Authorities in Atlanta have charged six police officers for using excessive force in the arrest of two African American college students after a video showed them dragging the students from a car and tasing them.
In a body camera video of the incident, which occurred at the time the city was enforcing a curfew aimed at curtailing rioting and looting following a nationwide protest in the aftermath of George Floyd’s gruesome killing to demand an end to racism and police brutality against blacks, an officer is seen trying to pull out the driver from the vehicle, which was stopped in the middle of the street, The Atlanta two African American College students were yelled at continually to stop the vehicle and open the window by an officer.
The charges, which were announced Tuesday by Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard come on the back of the firing of two officers involved in the incident.
Another officer, Willie Sauls, according to the outlet faces one count of aggravated assault for pointing his Taser and one count of criminal damage to property for damaging the car.
This is the third time ever that the DA’s office has brought charges for police officers before they were indicted and Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard observed that Young and Pilgrim were “extremely innocent.”
