Attorney calls for Ga. officers to be criminally charged

Associated Press

ATLANTA

An attorney is calling for the two Georgia police officers who were fired after being caught on camera having a violent confrontation with a motorist to face criminal charges.

Justin D. Miller said at a news conference Saturday the firing of Sgt. Michael Bongiovanni and Master Police Officer Robert McDonald was not enough. They were fired Thursday by the Gwinnett County Police Department after being videotaped beating 21-year-old Demetrius Hollins.

The department has opened a criminal investigation into the officers’ behavior.

“We want both of these officers criminally charged,” Miller said. “We want them to have to stand before a Gwinnett County judge in a courtroom full of Gwinnett County citizens, with their legs shackled and their hands cuffed behind their back.

Bongiovanni’s attorney, Mike Pugliese, told WSB-TV Friday that his client did not use excessive force: “It was an elbow strike, an FBI-taught defensive tactic.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Hollins said during the press conference that the encounter with police was “the scariest moment of my life.”

“The truth would never have come to life without these videos,” Hollins said, reading from a prepared statement. “No one would have believed that I did nothing to provoke an assault I suffered at the hands of these two Gwinnett County police officers. Even now, there are still many people who see me as a criminal, not as a college student or as a son.”

Miller said they’re still mulling a potential lawsuit. He said at least four others have contacted his office claiming mistreatment by the officers.