Atlanta police won't release body cam footage in deacon's taser death
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Johnny Hollman Sr. died after he was tased by a police officer who responded to a traffic collision on Aug. 10. Photo: Davis Bozeman Johnson Law
The Atlanta Police Department will not release body camera footage of an incident involving a 62-year-old church deacon who died after he was tased by a police officer, citing an active investigation.
Why it matters: Johnny Hollman Sr.'s family says releasing the footage publicly will counter police's initial description that he was being "combative" and "resistant," Mawuli Davis, the attorney whose law firm is representing Hollman's family, tells Axios.
- "We think that the world needs to see how my father died," daughter Arnitra Hollman tells Axios. "And we want them to see…the narrative that they put out there is not true. We want his name restored."
State of play: Family members and activists marched to Atlanta City Hall last month to demand the release of the footage worn by the officer accused of tasing Hollman, who was chairman of the deacon ministry at Lively Stones of God Ministries.
- The Georgia Bureau of Investigation requested that Atlanta hold off on releasing the footage until their probe is over, city attorney Nina Hickson told council members last week.
What happened: Police say they were dispatched around 11:20pm Aug. 10 to a car crash involving Hollman on Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard at Cunningham Place. An officer arrived and determined that Hollman was at fault in the accident and began to issue a ticket.
- According to an Atlanta police statement, Hollman became "agitated and uncooperative," and resisted when the officer tried to take him into custody.
- Police say after a struggle with Hollman, the officer tased the deacon and put him in handcuffs.
- Hollman became unresponsive and was later transported to Grady Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
- Atlanta police have not released the name of the officer involved.
The other side: Atlanta police on Sept. 8 allowed the family to view the body camera footage from the responding officer. According to the video, Davis tells Axios that Hollman initially disagreed with the officer's determination and asked to see a supervisor.
- The officer declined and told Hollman he could either sign the ticket or be taken to jail.
- Davis tells Axios that Hollman agrees to sign the ticket, and as he's reaching for the document, the officer "grabs his arm."
- Davis says the officer took Hollman to the ground, and the deacon, who can be heard saying "I can't breathe," is tased.
Family members responded to the scene of the incident and recorded EMS crews working to revive Hollman.
- "As long as we have been handling civil rights…we think it was likely one of the most senseless, police involved killings that we have been a part of," Davis tells Axios.
Meanwhile: APD which asked the GBI to investigate the incident, said that it's opened an internal probe of the encounter and placed the officer on paid administrative leave.
- APD has also tweaked its policy on traffic citations that now allow officers to write "refusal to sign" instead of arresting drivers who don't sign the ticket.
- A driver's signature will only mean they acknowledged they've received it and have been informed of the upcoming court date.
- A refusal to sign does not mean admission of guilt, APD says.
What they're saying: Davis tells Axios there needs to be a change in policing culture that "functions in the context of a system of white supremacy that says Black lives do not matter."
- "We have to be clear that that has been interwoven into policing since its inception, and that's what we are seeking to address," he said.