ATLANTA — An Atlanta police officer lost his job Tuesday after he Tased a deacon while working a minor traffic accident the pastor was in -- and the pastor died that same day at the hospital.
Johnny Hollman’s family has been demanding the officer’s termination – and are grateful for that -- but they’re furious at the reason why the officer was fired.
The Atlanta police chief said Officer Kiran Kimbrough, 23, was fired for not calling a supervisor to the scene before he decided to arrest the pastor.
The family said while that may be true, they’ve seen the entire video and they told Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes that it’s clear that there are several reasons why this officer should’ve been fired.
For that reason, the family said the termination isn’t anywhere near good enough for them.
“There’s no way now the chief is going to come back and say, ‘Oh, well we terminated him because a supervisor wasn’t there -- that’s absurd. Come on now. That’s B.S.,” Hollman’s daughter, Arnitra Hollman, said.
The family said they’re insulted by Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum’s reason for termination.
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Kimbrough was only in the presence of Hollman after Hollman called 911 to determine who caused a minor accident.
Once Kimbrough determined Hollman was the one at fault, Hollman initially refused to sign the ticket. But the family’s attorney, Mawuli Davis, said things didn’t get better even when Hollman agreed to sign.
“When he was on top of him Tasing him, he screamed at Deacon Hollman. While he was trying to handcuff him and Tase him, he said, ‘You’re going sign the ticket.’ He was in no physical position to sign,” Davis said.
“Yes, we want him prosecuted. Yes, we want him jailed. Yes, we want this video to be released so the world can see what happened to our father on August 10,” Arnitra Hollman said.
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Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis spoke exclusively to Channel 2 Action News on Tuesday, after she sat down with the family herself.
“That gentleman certainly didn’t die in vain,” Willis said.
She said the Atlanta Police Department has now decided to stop requiring people to sign the ticket in cases like this and the policy has also changed on releasing video.
“We now have a policy in place where the Atlanta Police Department, the GBI, and the DA’s office will meet 60 days after an incident occurs where someone requests video to go and be made public, and we’ll meet and see if it’s the appropriate time to release that video to the public. If it’s not the appropriate time, then we’ll meet again within the next 60 days to make that determination,” Willis said.
Kimbrough is not talking about the incident, but his attorney sent a statement, saying:
“Officer K. Kimbrough vehemently denies any wrongdoing or policy violations in connection with the investigation, detention, and arrest of Mr. Johnny Hollman. He will appeal his termination reportedly predicated upon his failure to call for a supervisor when Mr. Hollman refused to sign a lawfully issued citation as he was legally obligated to do. Our client is a decorated law enforcement officer and looks forward to the release of the entire investigation. The loss of any life is tragic. However, Officer Kimbrough’s actions in detaining Mr. Hollman and making a lawful arrest did not cause Mr. Hollman’s death.”
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