ATLANTA — After months of waiting, police bodycam video was released early Wednesday in the August police tasing death of Atlanta church deacon Johnny Hollman.
The video comes from the body camera worn by now-former Officer Kiran Kimbrough on the night he tased Hollman, whose death resulted from an abnormal heart rhythm due to being tased.
Hollman's tasing death followed Kimbrough's response to a traffic accident. The video shows he determined Hollman was at fault, which the church deacon objected to, and he initiated an arrest - leading to the tasing - when Hollman wouldn't sign the traffic ticket.
The video, which contains some edits and inclusions from the Atlanta Police Department, is available at this APD link. 11Alive has also published a version - which contains blurring of potentially identifying information as well as any view of Hollman following the tasing - which you can view below.
The video runs nearly an hour long and includes the full incident: from Hollman's full interaction with the officer (both before and after the ticket is issued), to the struggle and tasing, the response from other officers once they get on the scene, to Grady EMS being called.
Kimbrough was terminated over the incident for failing to "have a supervisor on the scene prior to proceeding with the physical arrest after Mr. Hollman refused to sign the citation." He has not been charged.
In a release from Mayor Andre Dickens' office, the mayor said:
"The video will be difficult to watch for many people, especially the family of Mr. Hollman. I continue to extend my deepest sympathy to them and hold them close in my thoughts and prayers. We also extend our gratitude to those in the community who have embraced and supported the family during these difficult months."
"As Mayor, I know it is critically important for the City of Atlanta to continually assess, evaluate and adjust how our public safety departments carry out their sworn mission to serve and protect our citizens. When there is a tragic circumstance, we afford due process for the officers involved while also letting the evidence drive the decision. In this case, the evidence was clear regarding a violation of the department’s SOPs," Dickens said. "We appreciate the APD Office of Professional Standards for their administrative review as well as the ongoing investigation into this case by the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Again, we express our deepest condolences to the Hollman family."
You can find the mayor's full release at the bottom of this story.
Statement from family
On Wednesday afternoon, members of Hollman's family joined attorneys in a press conference where they shared their thoughts on the bodycam video's release.
Anitra Hollman, the late deacon's daughter, gave a passionate speech where she expressed thanks for the release of the video but also called for more to be done, including for Officer Kimbrough to be prosecuted.
"This is our new normal; this is what we're facing every single day when we wake up," she said in front of reporters. "We're crying out, our children are crying out and we keep saying we're not going to let the city sweep this under the rug."
Hollman's daughter continued by saying, "Our father's life meant so much not just to us but to the people of the community...we shared him with so many people...We want our father back, we want my father back, we want to spend Thanksgiving with him."
She concluded by posing a challenge to those watching to set a table for her father at the Thanksgiving table and imagine it was a member of your own family who died. "Light a candle, say a prayer, but move! Do something! Don't sit back and allow this to keep happening to us."
Click here to watch the full press conference.
Previous reporting on the Johnny Hollman case
Hollman's family said they have been waiting since August, and as they get closer to the moment, the bodycam video will become public -- the gravity of the situation for them is becoming surreal. His children said they have been overwhelmed with emotions as they wait for the video to be released.
"This morning, I woke up sick to my stomach. I broke down and cried," Hollman's daughter Santeesh Crews said.
The family viewed the video privately at Atlanta City Hall in October, and they said it depicts their dad's murder.
"I saw the way he leg swept my father and then threw my daddy down to the ground. That’s very heartbreaking," the deacon's daughter Anitra Hollman said.
Hollman, a 62-year-old deacon at The Lively Stones of God Ministries Church of Atlanta, died in the incident on Aug. 10 as officers responded to investigate a traffic accident. An autopsy report concluded Hollman died of cardiac dysrhythmia resulting from the tasing.
On that night, Hollman was driving along Cunningham Place in southwest Atlanta when he got into an accident and called the police.
During the encounter with police, an officer determined Hollman was at fault for the crash and attempted to issue him a traffic citation, which Hollman allegedly would not sign. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation previously said he became "non-compliant" when the officer attempted to take him into custody. A taser was then deployed as Hollman continued to resist arrest, the GBI said.
Atlanta Police previously described the encounter as "several minutes of struggling" between the deacon and the arresting officer leading to the tasing. Hollman became unresponsive shortly after, and EMS was called to respond.
Hollman was taken to Grady Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on Aug. 11 shortly before 1 a.m., the medical examiner's report stated.
"We saw an assault against a 62-year-old man who was literally pleading for his life, informing the officer that he could not breathe, informing him of his medical condition and that he was having issues with asthma," Davis previously said. "And, the officer, with malicious intent, continued to strike and tase."
The autopsy report released by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office classified Hollman’s death as a medical homicide. The document also noted he died as the result of an abnormal heart rhythm due to being tased. Even though the document went on to say other preexisting conditions, like heart disease and diabetes, were contributing factors to Hollman's death, the family argues he was living with his illnesses and would be alive today if it weren't for the encounter with the officer.
The officer in the incident, Kiran Kimbrough, was terminated in October by the Atlanta Police Department, saying he "violated standard operating procedure when he failed to have a supervisor on the scene prior to proceeding with the physical arrest after Mr. Hollman failed to sign the citation."
Anitra previously said she was on the phone with her father when the struggle ensued. She recalled that the last words she heard her father say were, "I can't breathe."
"The next time I heard my daddy's voice, he was in distress. I heard my daddy beg for help," Anitra previously said.
Anitra and the family's legal counsel have continued to press for the release of the body camera footage from the incident and expressed their frustration over the reason APD gave for Kimbrough's firing, arguing it failed to interrogate the prime issue with the arrest.
"We don't want him to work at another police department," Anitra exclaimed. "Yes, we want him prosecuted. Yes, we want him in jail."
Since Kimbrough's firing, Davis said releasing the bodycam video would clear up misconceptions about the incident.
"There was a narrative painted about their father, a narrative that would have the public basically pull back from supporting this family if they believed it, but his good work that he had done in his life spoke for it," Davis said.
Hollman's daughter Anitra said the damage to their dad's reputation lies with what's on the bodycam video.
"The world will be able to see what happened to our father on August 10. We want his good name restored," she said.
As Hollman's family prepares to spend their first holiday season without him, they are hoping the video release will provide some closure.
Georgia NAACP President Gerald A. Griggs posted on social media that a candlelight vigil honoring Hollman's life has been rescheduled to Tuesday at 7 p.m. at City Hall.
Mayor Dickens full release on Johnny Hollman bodycam video
The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office released the body camera footage from the Atlanta Police Department traffic stop on August 10, 2023, during which Mr. Johnny Hollman passed away. The video will be difficult to watch for many people, especially the family of Mr. Hollman. I continue to extend my deepest sympathy to them and hold them close in my thoughts and prayers. We also extend our gratitude to those in the community who have embraced and supported the family during these difficult months.
Any incident where a life is lost greatly concerns me and the members of my Administration. That’s why I immediately directed the Atlanta Police Department (APD) to conduct a top-to-bottom review and evaluation of the incident and a top-to- bottom review of the department’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and training curriculum.
APD’s Office of Professional Standards conducted a thorough administrative investigation of what occurred during the traffic stop. Their review found that Officer Kiran Kimbrough failed to have a supervisor on the scene prior to proceeding with the physical arrest after Mr. Hollman refused to sign the citation. As a result, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum terminated Officer Kimbrough in October for failing to follow the department’s SOPs.
The investigation led to other changes as well, including:
- Revising APD’s standard operating procedures regarding traffic citations, allowing officers to write “refusal to sign” in the signature line, rather than make an arrest.
- Expediting the launch of APD’s civilian response unit which will provide service to Atlanta residents and neighborhoods. Yearly, police officers respond to tens of thousands of low risk calls for service. These calls monopolize significant patrol hours as they often carry a high level of administrative complexity. This unit, composed of unarmed specially trained civilians, will serve citywide by responding to minor traffic offenses, accidents and thefts from cars as well as handling various traffic management needs.
- Developing new policy guidelines and procedures in partnership with the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation when considering the public release of video evidence showing the use-of-force by an Atlanta police officer that has resulted in serious bodily injury or death, and which is subject to investigation by the GBI.
As Mayor, I know it is critically important for the City of Atlanta to continually assess, evaluate and adjust how our public safety departments carry out their sworn mission to serve and protect our citizens. When there is a tragic circumstance, we afford due process for the officers involved while also letting the evidence drive the decision. In this case, the evidence was clear regarding a violation of the department’s SOPs.
The ability to change and build a public safety organization in the City of Atlanta that is flexible and able to adjust its procedures in a common-sense manner is of the utmost importance. As we move forward, this will include creating the most progressive training curriculum in the nation, which includes learning and practicing de-escalation skills, mental health training, anti-bias training and building relationships with citizens to continue strengthening community trust.
We appreciate the APD Office of Professional Standards for their administrative review as well as the ongoing investigation into this case by the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Again, we express our deepest condolences to the Hollman family.