Family of deacon killed during traffic stop calls for Atlanta police officer's arrest
Family of deacon killed wants officer arrested
The family of a 62-year-old man killed while in the custody of Atlanta police wants the officer who used a Taser on him arrested. The family of Johnny Holloman finally viewed the body camera video that shows the church deacon in custody during the last few minutes of his life.
ATLANTA - The family of a 62-year-old man killed while in the custody of Atlanta Police wants the officer who used a Taser on him arrested.
The family of Johnny Holloman finally viewed the body cam video, which shows the church deacon in APD custody during the last few minutes of his life.
The family says after viewing the video, they now know Mr. Hollomon did not resist arrest, but rather asked for a supervisor and begged for his life. The family openly wept and declined to comment on what they saw.
"This was… as long as I have been doing this… the most senseless arrest I have ever seen. He was killed over a ticket," attorney Mawuli Davis said, as he fought back tears.
Hollomon’s family was in disbelief after watching the 62-year-old church deacon take his last breath while in police custody.
Mr. Hollomon was heading home from bible study Aug. 10 when police say he was involved in a minor traffic accident.
An officer decided Hollomon was at fault and proceeded to arrest him at the intersection of Cunningham Place and Joseph Lowery Boulevard. That is when police say Hollomon resisted arrest and an officer used a Taser on him.
His family says the officer’s body cam video showed the 62-year-old unarmed man did nothing wrong.
"All he did was disagree with the officer on the accident. As he reaches out to sign the ticket, the officer grabs him by the arm, and he begins to put him into custody. He took him to the ground, and you can hear Mr. Hollomon begging for him to stop. He says, ‘I can’t breathe, please help me,’" attorney Davis recalls.
Since the deadly encounter, Hollomon’s family and others have marched from APD to City Hall, demanding more be done.
Friday night, they are asking that the officer involved be arrested and the video of this encounter be released.
"There are so many prosecuted for much less. He must be arrested. This arrest was the result of a hyper-aggressive Atlanta Police culture that says, ‘I got the power and I will not respect you,’" Davis exclaimed.
The GBI has taken the lead on this investigation.
Atlanta Police have changed their policy on traffic citations.
They released a statement explaining the revised policy.
"As a result of that review, there have been updates to the standard operating procedures of APD regarding traffic citations, to allow officers to write ‘refusal to sign’ in the signature line, rather than make an arrest."