Some councilmembers ‘were not excited’ about $2M settlement for college students tased by officers

ATLANTA — On Monday, the Atlanta City Council voted to approve a $2 million settlement for two college students who were pulled from their car and tased during a George Floyd protest back in 2020.

“This was done with a lot of consternation and heartburn,” said Atlanta City Council Member Michael Julian Bond.

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But the saga of an incident involving Atlanta Police and Morehouse and Spelman students is now over. Atlanta City Council members approved the settlement with one member voting against it.

“People on the council were not excited about it but it ends the legal proceedings, we put it to rest. They were originally asking for about $14-15 million dollars, and so it’s been negotiated down,” said Bond.

Messiah Young and Taniyah Pilgrim will receive a total of $2 million after a body camera captured the pair driving near a George Floyd protest in 2020.

APD said they wanted Young to move his car out of traffic, and a special prosecutor said Young moved the car while an officer was leaning into his window. That’s when an officer tased Young and several officers pulled both Young and Pilgrim from the car.

As a result, six officers were charged, but the charges were later dismissed.

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Bond said that was important to note that the officers had since been cleared of wrongdoing in the resolution approving the settlement.

“Our officers were exonerated that they had followed their training and procedures in the incident,” said Bond. “Approving this settlement wasn’t in some way an indictment of our police department we wanted to be clear on that.”

Attorneys for Young and Pilgrim declined to talk to Channel 2′s Candace McCowan after the settlement was approved.

The settlement states that each student will get $1 million on the settlement.

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