2 Atlanta police officers who were charged after Tasing college students during an arrest went through use-of-force and de-escalation training in the last 2 months
- Two of the six officers who were charged following the arrests of two college students in Atlanta had recently completed use-of-force and de-escalation trainings.
- Video of the incident, which Atlanta's mayor called a use of "excessive force," shows police surrounding the students' vehicle, pulling them out of their seats, and Tasing them.
- Investigators Mark Gardner and Ivory Streeter, who were fired from the force on Sunday, were among the six charged in the incident.
- The officers face charges including aggravated assault, simple battery, criminal damage to property, pointing a handgun, and aggravated battery.
Two of the Atlanta, Georgia, police officers who have been charged following the arrests of two college students during a protest on Saturday had recently completed use-of-force and de-escalation trainings that teach law enforcement agencies how to react in heightened situations.
Investigators Mark Gardner and Ivory Streeter, who were both members of the department's fugitive unit, were fired on Sunday after a video from CBS 46 showed several officers smashing a car's window, dragging 22-year-old Messiah Young and 20-year-old Teniyah Pilgrim from the vehicle, and using a Taser on the couple.
CBS 46 reported on Tuesday that Gardner, Streeter, and four other officers were arrested, and face charges including aggravated assault, simple battery, criminal damage to property, pointing a handgun, and aggravated battery.
An investigation by WSB-TV found that Gardner and Streeter had both finished de-escalation and use-of-force training in recent months. Police officers take the programs to help diffuse situations with communication rather than using force.
According to WSB-TV's investigation, Gardner had finished his training two months ago, and Streeter had finished his just a week before the incident.
Video of the incident, which Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms called an incident of "excessive force," showed officers in riot gear and gas masks surrounding Young and Pilgrim's car before breaking a window and pulling them out of the vehicle.
According to police reports, the couple had been leaving a protest at Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park, and the situation escalated when Young didn't follow an officer's request to move his vehicle, which police said was blocking traffic. The couple told WSB-TV that they were not part of the protests, and they had just gone out for something to eat.
Young, a Morehouse College student, spent a night in jail following the incident, and fractured his arm and received 20 stitches.
"We felt like we were going to die in that car," said Pilgrim, a student at Spelman College.
Pilgrim and Young's lawyers are calling for more disciplinary action for the officers involved.
"This is a long, long fight. This isn't just about me. This is an entire generation that has to deal with brutality and injustice and wrongdoing for nothing because of the color of their skin," Young said.
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