Community activist involved in police altercation now asking city leaders to review case

South Fulton police officer reprimanded after violent confrontation

The man involved in an altercation with a South Fulton police officer said the punishment was a slap on the wrist.

South Fulton, Ga - Marcus Coleman is now calling on South Fulton city leaders to review the handling of the investigation into his confrontation with South Fulton Police Cpl. Solomon Muhammad earlier this year after Police Chief Keith Meadows gave Solomon a three-day suspension without pay and ordered him to undergo de-escalation and sensitivity training.

Coleman wants the officer fired.

Coleman told FOX 5, "We are calling on the mayor and council to dive deep into the process in which this investigation was conducted."

The city of South Fulton asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to conduct an independent investigation following the physical confrontation that occurred at a busy intersection on Roosevelt Highway in late January. Coleman recorded the incident.

The men exchanged words after Coleman criticized the officer's handling of a traffic scene.

Coleman said Muhammad tried to slap the phone from his hand, wrestle him to the ground, pulled a taser on him, then placed him in the back of a patrol car. Coleman was not charged with any crime.

"We feel like this is a case study for the first-ever high-profile case in the city of South Fulton. It was handled sloppily. I would say deliberately sloppily and we feel like a review of that will highlight those errors," said Coleman.

A city spokesman issued a written statement Monday afternoon saying, "As we have said since the onset, we remain committed to a just resolution of this incident. To that end, we called on the GBI to ensure an impartial investigation, agreeing to abide by the GBI’s findings. Using details from that investigation – including available video from the scene, interviews with those involved and statements from emergency workers – we determined the officer violated certain department policies. We also received a clearer idea of what took place during the incident. Based on that knowledge – which, again, was gathered and provided by the GBI – we are confident our response is in line with the GBI’s findings. "

The GBI turned its findings over to the Fulton County DA's office, which is still reviewing the case.