Clashes between protesters and police took a tense turn outside of Fogo de Chão in Buckhead, as demonstrations continued over the fatal police shooting of Nygil Cullins. According to FOX 5 Atlanta, friends and family are still fiercely demanding accountability following the release of body cam and surveillance footage from the 2022 incident.

The situation further escalated during the most recent protest, when at least one person was detained by the Atlanta Police Department (APD), reportedly for refusing to swiftly get out of the street. 11Alive reported that the crowd vocally questioned the officers’ actions during the arrest. Cullins' mother, Mya, was also briefly detained but was released after questioning.

Backlash has been severe against APD’s narrative and actions during the incident, which occurred at the Buckhead establishment where Cullins was previously employed. "This is a very chaotic situation with an erratic individual with a handgun in a restaurant," APD Chief Darin Schierbaum defended in a virtual press conference, citing that the responses of officers on scene were within protocol.

However, Cullins’ family is claiming police aggressively created the volatility they then sought to contain. Mya Cullins insisted that her son, experiencing a mental health crisis, became engulfed in dread and chaos due to police actions. Indeed, attorney Gerald Griggs of the Georgia NAACP argued for transparency, stating, "We believe that the shooting was unjustified," and demanding accountability from the city and restaurant, as Mya Cullins echoed, "I’m going to fight until I have no breath in my body to do whatever is ethically possible to ensure that justice is served for Nygil Marquis Cullins," she told 11Alive.