2 Cops Fired After Pulling Students From Car Amid Protest

College students were arrested in Atlanta
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 1, 2020 12:48 AM CDT

The Atlanta police officers caught on video pulling two college students out of a car amid protests in the city Saturday night, tasing one and arresting both, have now been fired. Investigators Mark Gardner and Ivory Streeter allegedly pulled the man and woman out of the car after first directing them to stop because another officer was in the street. When the car didn't stop, police surrounded it, 11Alive reports. The passenger, a Spelman student, was ordered to get out of the car and did not; officers then allegedly forced their way in, tasing the driver, a Morehouse student, and arresting both.

On Sunday, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced both officers had been terminated and three others are on desk duty while an investigation is carried out. "I am genuinely sorry. This is not what we are about," she said, apologizing to the students, who saw the charges against them dropped. Bottoms continued, per Fox 6, "There clearly was an excessive use of force. We understand that our officers are working very long hours under an enormous amount of stress, but we also understand that the use of excessive force is never acceptable." Protests against the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, at the hands of a white police officer were ongoing in Atlanta and other cities Sunday night. (More Atlanta stories.)

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