ATLANTA — The family of Johnny Hollman, a 62-year-old Atlanta church deacon who died following a "struggle" with police last month, will see bodycam from the night of his death on Friday.
According to the family, the private viewing will take place this afternoon at City Hall. They intend to provide a public statement afterward.
Johnny Hollman died on August 10 in what the Atlanta Police Department described as "several minutes of struggling" between the deacon and the arresting officer; Hollman became unresponsive shortly after.
Neither Atlanta Police nor the GBI described the exact circumstances of the struggle, which authorities said included the deployment of the officer's Taser.
The incident happened a little after 11 p.m. at the intersection of Cunningham Place and Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard. Police said the officers were investigating a traffic collision when, according to the GBI, Hollman "became non-compliant and the officer attempted to take Hollman into custody."
The bureau said the struggle then occurred, and that the officer "attempted to use a Taser as Hollman continued to resist arrest." Atlanta Police in their statement said the officer "utilized his Taser," though neither statement was clear as to whether Hollman was in fact struck by the Taser.
Johnny Hollman
APD's statement said the officer had arrived on scene to investigate the accident and "determined the at-fault driver" who "became agitated and uncooperative" when the officer attempted to issue a traffic citation.
APD described what happened next as Hollman resisting and "a struggle ensued."
"After several minutes struggling with the male, the officer utilized his taser and, with the help of a witness, placed the driver into handcuff," the Atlanta police statement said. "Once the driver was in handcuffs, the officer realized he was unresponsive and requested EMS to the scene. The driver was taken to Grady Hospital and has been pronounced deceased."
The GBI said: "After the officer took Hollman into custody, police determined that Hollman had become unresponsive. Police called EMS personnel, and Hollman was taken to a local hospital where he died."
His daughter, Arnitra Hollman, alongside the family's legal representation, said at a news conference that she was on the phone with her father when the struggle ensued.
She remembers that the last words she heard her father say were, "I can't breathe."
"The next time I heard my daddy voice, he was in distress. I heard my daddy beg for help," Arnitra said.
Hollman was a deacon at Lively Stones of God Ministries on MLK Jr. Dr. in Atlanta.