The family of 62-year-old Johnny Hollman was shattered after viewing a video of the patriarch’s death at the hands of an overzealous Atlanta police officer. Now, the Fulton County prosecutor’s office is expected to make what could be damning video available to the public on Wednesday, Nov. 22.
Hollman’s family has hired civil rights attorney Mawuli Davis. Last month after meeting with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Davis said that the family of Hollman believes that Kimbrough should be charged with murder. “Our position is that it was an unwarranted, unjustifiable assault that led to a death. And in my book, that is murder,” explained the civil rights attorney.
“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 said in an earlier interview, adding, “This was the most senseless arrest I have ever seen in my entire career. … He was killed over a ticket.”
Hollman a church deacon at Lively Stones of God Ministries on MLK Jr. Dr. was driving home after Bible study when he was involved in a minor accident. After Atlanta police officers arrived on the scene they determined that Hollman was at fault and proceeded to arrest him when he allegedly refused to sign a traffic ticket issued.
But after weeks of investigating, video of the incident shows the elderly deacon collapsing and telling officers “I can’t breathe,” after being tased by former APD officer Kiran Kimbrough. An autopsy ruled that Hollman’s death was a homicide.
Kimbrough, 23 was fired from the Atlanta Police Department on Monday, Oct. 9 for “failing to follow the department’s standard operating procedures” while arresting Hollman on Aug. 10. APD’s standard operating procedures were updated to reflect officers can write “refusal to sign” in the signature line of the traffic citation instead of arresting the person.
APD says that the 62-year-old was tased when he resisted arrest, although eyewitness accounts indicate Hollman was attempting to sign the ticket while handcuffed. The elderly deacon collapsed and subsequently died.
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