It’s been a few weeks since an Atlanta church deacon was killed in police custody. After reviewing body cam footage, the deacon’s family demands the officer involved be held accountable.
According to Fox 5 Atlanta, the Atlanta Police Department received multiple calls about a car crash. After officers arrived, they determined that 62-year-old Johnny Hollomon was to blame. An officer tried to give Hollomon a traffic citation, but they claim the deacon became “agitated and uncooperative,” escalating the interaction.
When the officer tried to take him into custody, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation reported Hollman struggled with the law enforcement agent, which ended when the officer fired his Taser and put him in handcuffs.
The officers restrained Hollman and later discovered he’d become unresponsive. They called paramedics, who took him to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Holloman’s family didn’t get to review body camera footage from the incident until Friday, Fox 5 Atlanta reported. According to them, Holloman did not resist the officers. He asked for a supervisor and pleaded with the officers to save his life.
The 62-year-old’s family believes the video proves the deacon didn’t do any wrong.
“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 Mawuli Davis told Fox 5 Atlanta.
Since Holloman’s death, his family and supporters have marched from the Atlanta Police Department to city hall, calling for justice for the deacon.
Davis announced on Friday that the family is asking for the involved officer’s arrest and the release of the incident’s video footage.
“There are so many prosecuted for much less. He must be arrested,” he said. “This arrest was the result of a hyper-aggressive Atlanta Police culture that says, ‘I got the power and I will not respect you.'”
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into the incident, and the Atlanta Police Department has changed its policy on traffic citations.
“As a result of that review, there have been updates to the standard operating procedures of APD regarding traffic citations, to allow officers to write ‘refusal to sign’ in the signature line, rather than make an arrest,” the department stated.
According to Essence, Hollman was a Lively Stones of God Ministries deacon in Atlanta. When the accident occurred, he was on his way home from a Bible study.