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Atlanta. In connection with a brutal arrest during protests against police violence, two police officers have been fired and three others have been transferred to the office in the US metropolis of Atlanta. There was excessive violence in the arrest of two students, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said on Sunday. She and police chief Erika Shields made the decision after carefully examining recordings of the Saturday evening incident made by body cameras.
The footage was “really shocking to watch,” Bottoms said. “Excessive violence is never acceptable.” The video was first seen online and was later featured on local television by reporters. It shows a group of police officers in protective gear and gas masks surrounding a car in which a driver and a passenger are sitting.
The officers appear to have stun guns at the woman and then drag her out of the car. Then they use a stun gun on the man. The woman lying on the ground is handcuffed. Apparently the couple are not resisting. According to reporters, the police had previously smashed the car’s windows and had flat tires.
After the death of George Floyd: unrest in the United States never ends
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In the United States, civil unrest broke out for the fifth day in a row. Anger over the death of George Floyd fuels the protests. © Reuters
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Police chief apologized for the officers’ actions
Mayor Bottoms said the passenger was later released and there was nothing against her. The man was also released. They will order that the allegations against him be dropped, Bottoms said. According to a police report, he is charged with driving without a valid driver’s license and trying to evade the police.
Police Chief Shields apologized for her officers’ actions, saying it was unacceptable and had fueled further fear. In such cases, as a police chief, she has to intervene and clean up, said Shields.
There was a curfew in Atlanta from 9 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Police said more than 150 people were arrested on Sunday after protesters threw stones at officers and smashed windows in downtown.
Protests, some of them violent, have been going on nationwide in the USA for days. They were triggered by the death of the Black George Floyd in police brutality in Minneapolis on Monday last week. He died after a white policeman pressed his knee on the neck of Floyd, who was cuffed and lying on the ground, for minutes.
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