Source: Douglas Rissing / Getty
Johnny Hollman was 62-years-old on August 10, 2023 when he was killed during a traffic stop interaction with former Atlanta police officer Kiran Kimbrough. Kimbrough attempted to arrest Hollman for not signing a traffic citation, unnecessarily deployed his taser, and ultimately sent the Lively Stones of God Ministries Church of Atlanta deacon into fatal cardiac dysrhythmia. BOSSIP previously reported that Kimbrough was fired, not for killing Hollman, but rather, for not calling a supervisor to the scene prior to attempting the arrest.
According to new reporting Atlanta’s 11Alive, Hollman’s family plans to file a lawsuit against both The City of Atlanta and Kiran Kimbrough on the basis of excessive force and the civil rights violations of the first, fourth, and fourteenth amendments.
In a statement, Attorney Mawuli Davis said, “The family is now prepared to endure the next several years of federal litigation in their quest for justice. It’s a sad day for a city Deacon Hollman’s family has loved unconditionally.”
The lawsuit is based on six counts that detail the numerous violations and malpractices that Kimbrough committed and that city of Atlanta protocol endorsed.
In response to the lawsuit, The City of Atlanta says that upon hearing of Hollman’s death, Mayor Andre Dickens immediately revised the police department’s SOP (standard operating procedure) and training curriculum. These include allowing an officer to write “refusal to sign” on a citation rather than make an arrest, launching a “civilian response unit” to address minor traffic accidents and car break-ins, and revising the policy on the release of body camera video in use-of-force incidents.
That’s all well and good but the Hollman family isn’t calling it even Stephen.
“A minor accident should not cause someone a death sentence. It shouldn’t be that way,” Hollman’s daughter, Anitra Hollman, previously said.
We’ll have more information about the ongoing lawsuit as information becomes available.
