The Atlanta City Council has approved a hefty $3.8 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the family of Johnny Hollman, a church deacon who tragically died following a police tasing incident. The unanimous vote took place on Monday, capping off the fallout from Hollman's death last fall that sparked outrage and calls for justice from the community, as reported by WABE.
Hollman, 62, was involved in a minor car crash in Southwest Atlanta and was later tased by then-Officer Kiran Kimbrough after he refused to sign a ticket. The lawsuit his family filed leveled civil rights claims against Kimbrough, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum, and the city itself. It asserted that it was Kimbrough's excessive use of force that primarily caused Hollman's death—a conclusion supported by an autopsy that ruled it a homicide, citing heart disease as a contributing factor.
It would take three months before police body cam footage of the incident was released publicly, revealing Kimbrough stunning Hollman, who repeated "I can't breathe" close to a dozen times. The video shows Hollman becoming unresponsive, followed by Kimbrough handcuffing him and trying to have him sit up. Hollman was pronounced dead shortly after at Grady Memorial Hospital.
Attorneys Mawuli Davis and Harold Spence, representing the Hollman family, praised the city council's decision. "We believe this resolution, that was unanimously passed by city council, speaks to that … it’s important to close this chapter on the civil side so that [the family] may focus their energy, and we may focus on the criminal prosecution in this case," Davis told WABE. Spence added that the settlement was a "just financial remedy" but emphasized that the fight for criminal prosecution against Kimbrough and Eric Roberson, a tow truck driver involved in the incident, would relentlessly continue.
Anitra Hollman, the deceased's daughter, expressed both gratitude for the settlement and determination to see justice served for her father. "But going forward, we just got to stay together, we got to stay strong and we got to continue to fight … that’s when we will have our peace and that is when our father’s spirit to us will really rest in peace," she said during the WABE interview.
Mayor Dickens conveyed his sympathy for the Hollman family through a statement saying, "My thoughts remain with the Hollman family, and while nothing can undo what has been done, my priority was to get this family as close to full closure from this unfortunate tragedy as soon as possible," as reported by WABE. He also mentioned that significant changes, including the introduction of the CARES unit for police procedure, were made following the incident.
