Atlanta officers not charged in violent arrests of Morehouse, Spelman students

The six Atlanta police officers accused of using violent and excessive force against two college students amid a George Floyd protest in 2020 will not face charges. The Atlanta district attorney announced Monday that all charges against the officers were dropped because the officers’ actions were right on par with department policy, . “At this point, I’m just so far gone, it’s like I’m trying to remove myself from that situation, but it’s really hard to cope with.”

Young suffered a fractured wrist, bruised ribs, and 20 stitches in his forearm, theGrio reported. 

“I haven’t even processed the situation and everything that happened,” Pilgrim told CNN. “I don’t want this to continue to happen and have more victims who are traumatized that can’t sleep, can’t eat. I don’t want that for anyone else. This is disgusting. This isn’t right.”

Per CBS, Ivory Streeter, Lonnie Hood, Mark Gardner, Ronald Claud, Willie Sauls, and Armond Jones were the officers charged but ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing following a nine-month independent investigation. Streeter and Gardner were reportedly fired following the incident, while the other officers were placed on administrative duty.

Atlanta Judicial Circuit District Attorney Pro Tempore Samir Patel said the officers’ actions were “proportional to the force necessary to effectuate the arrests.”

Patel noted that the officers’ use of force was “the direct result of Mr. Young and Ms. Pilgrim’s resistance to and noncompliance with the officers’ instructions.”

The D.A. said that Young and Pilgrim were violating curfew when the officers confronted them. 

“It is also clear from the evidence that the use of the Taser, and indeed any force used by the officers ended immediately once Mr. Young and Ms. Pilgrim were subdued,” Patel said, adding, “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.” 

He also noted that “the video that was widely distributed through media in the days following May 30, 2020, was not an accurate portrayal of the entire encounter between Mr. Young, Ms. Pilgrim, and law enforcement,” Patel said.

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