Newly released video shows a 62-year-old man struggling with an Atlanta police officer and saying “I can’t breathe” moments before he is tased. The man died less than two hours later, and now his family is calling for the former officer to be prosecuted.
The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office released the body camera footage, which shows the moments leading up to the August 10, 2023, death of Johnny Hollman, who was a church deacon, according to his family’s attorney
An investigation by state and local law enforcement ruled the officer violated protocol by not having a supervisor on scene before proceeding with the arrest, and he was fired. The criminal investigation is ongoing, and the officer has not been charged.
Hollman’s daughter, Arnita Hollman, said during a news conference Wednesday she believed her father was “murdered on the streets of Atlanta,” and called for the jailing of the officer. “We need him prosecuted to the fullest extent.
Authorities have identified the officer involved as Kiran Kimbrough.In an emailed statement, an attorney for Hollman’s family said the video’s release “confirms the undeniable truth that Kimbrough needlessly and brutally escalated a routine police-citizen encounter over a traffic ticket into a fatal encounter.”But an attorney for the firm who represents the officer told CNN Hollman “violently and unlawfully resisted Officer Kimbrough’s lawful efforts to arrest him.”“The Atlanta Police investigation confirmed Officer Kimbrough deployed his city-issued TASER and used force in a manner consistent with his training and Georgia law,” said Lance LoRusso with LoRusso Law Firm. “Georgia law does not require any officer to seek approval from a supervisor prior to making an arrest.”
What we know about the traffic incidentOfficers responded to the scene of a traffic accident just after 11:30 p.m., after both Hollman and another person involved in the accident called 911. Police released audio of both of the calls.“The person that I got in the accident with is acting a little belligerent,” the caller told dispatchers, referring to Hollman. “He keeps yelling.”Kimbrough, the officer, found Hollman to be at-fault for the crash.As Kimbrough was attempting to issue him a traffic ticket, body camera video shows Hollman was upset and refused to sign the citation. Kimbrough warns Hollman he would be taken to jail for not signing. As the officer repeatedly says “sign the ticket,” the camera is jostled in an apparent physical confrontation between the officer and Hollman. The details of that contact are unclear.
credit: cnn
