The Atlanta officers who dragged two college students out of their car while they sat in traffic amidst a Black Lives Matter protest will not face prosecution, per NBC News. The former Fulton-County District Attorney Paul Howard announced arrest warrants for the six officers involved but the prosecutor said they could not be charged with a crime under Georgia law.
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In May of 2020, Messiah Young and Taniya Pilgrim were trying to get past a crowd of demonstrators after city curfew when they were confronted by police. Per the body camera footage that was released a day later, the officers arrested Young while he pleaded for them to let him go. The two were also stunned with Tasers.
The prosecutor decided to dismiss the arrest warrants filed against the six officers: Ivory Streeter, Mark Gardner, Lonnie Hood, Roland Claud, Willie Sauls and Armon Jones.
More on the decision from NBC News:
“Not only was law enforcement acting within the scope of their legal authority in their actions to obtain compliance, their actions were also largely consistent with the Atlanta Police Department’s own use of force policy,” Cherokee Judicial Circuit District Attorney Samir Patel said in a statement Monday.
He said he is “unable to find probable cause to prosecute the officers involved for a crime under Georgia law.”
Patel’s statement says video that was distributed after the incident “was not an accurate portrayal of the entire encounter between Mr. Young, Ms. Pilgrim, and law enforcement.” It wasn’t immediately clear whether he was meant the first videos that circulated online or the body camera video.
Source: Atlanta Officers who Dragged Students From a Car During a Protest Escape Prosecution
