Body cam video released shows the final moments of 62-year-old Atlanta deacon Johnny Hollman who died on Aug. 10 after he was tased by an Atlanta police officer during a traffic stop.
After finishing bible study, Hollman was on his way home when he got into a minor car accident, according to his family.
Hollman called 911 and waited for over an hour for police to arrive, his family says. When officers arrived on the scene, they determined Hollman was at fault and issued him a traffic ticket, according to Atlanta police.
Hollman asked to see a sergeant, but the officer allegedly ignored him and told Hollman he would be taken to jail if he did not sign the ticket, according to the family.
Despite allegedly telling the officer he would sign the ticket, the officer grabbed him and took him to the ground and began using a stun gun on him, according to the family.
Hollman allegedly told the officer “I can’t breathe” as many as 16 times, according to a statement from his family.
Hollman was later pronounced dead at Grady Hospital.
Atlanta police say Hollman became “agitated and uncooperative” before the officer attempted to take him into custody.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation also said amid the investigation into the car accident Hollman became “non-compliant” and the officer attempted to take him into custody.
Atlanta police said the officer struggled with Hollman for several minutes before using his stun gun and putting Hollman in handcuffs, with the help of a witness.
“We’re asking for the officer to be jailed and prosecuted to the fullest extent because what he did to our father was senseless,” Arnitra Hollman, daughter of Johnny Hollman, said during a press conference following the release of the video.
Atlanta Police Officer Kiran Kimbrough was initially placed on administrative leave amid an internal investigation. The APD announced on Oct. 10 that Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum “terminated Officer Kimbrough for failing to follow the department’s standard operating procedures” during Hollman’s arrest by failing to call a supervisor to the scene before the arrest for failing to sign the traffic citation.
Following the officer’s termination, Kimbrough’s attorney Lance LoRusso told the Associated Press in a statement that Kimbrough “vehemently denies any wrongdoing or policy violations.”
LoRusso said in a statement on Tuesday that Kimbrough has appealed his termination and maintained that the officer’s arrest of Hollman was “lawful.”
Via ABC News
Full video here