Judge dismisses murder charges against officer in shooting of unarmed man in closet

ATLANTA -- A national justice has thrown retired execution charges against a erstwhile Atlanta constabulary serviceman who changeable and killed an unarmed antheral hiding successful a closet.

U.S. District Judge Michael Brown ruled Tuesday that Sung Kim, a 26-year seasoned of the Atlanta constabulary department, acted successful aforesaid defence and shouldn't look charges successful the 2019 sidesplitting of 21-year-old Jimmy Atchison.

“The grounds for self-defense is truthful overwhelming it is hard to recognize however Georgia could person brought these charges successful the archetypal place, overmuch little continued with them implicit the two-and-a-half years since," Brown wrote in his ruling. “Defendant's shooting of Mr. Atchison was textbook self-defense.”

Kim was indicted successful authorities tribunal successful 2022, but moved his lawsuit to national tribunal due to the fact that helium was assigned to an FBI fugitive task unit erstwhile the shooting happened and frankincense was a national officer.

Atlanta activists person cited Atchison's decease arsenic an illustration of unjustified constabulary unit against Black people. His sanction was often chanted by Atlanta protesters during Black Lives Matter protests successful the summertime of 2020.

The shooting besides sparked argumentation changes. The Atlanta Police Department withdrew its officers from national task forces due to the fact that task unit members weren't allowed to deterioration assemblage cameras, meaning determination is nary video of Atchison's shooting. Officers returned aft national agencies began allowing section task unit officers to deterioration cameras.

Atchison was killed connected Jan. 22, 2019, aft Kim and different task unit members tried to apprehension him connected charges that helium stole a woman’s purse and cellphone successful an equipped robbery. Kim retired from the Atlanta Police Department respective months later. A Fulton County expansive assemblage indicted Kim connected charges that included felony execution and involuntary manslaughter.

Officers forced their mode into an apartment, prompting Atchison to leap retired of a window, tally done a 2nd gathering and fell beneath a mound of apparel successful a closet successful different apartment. In his ruling, Brown rejected claims by a authorities witnesser that officers violated mostly accepted constabulary practices by entering the different flat and the chamber wherever Atchison was hiding.

Testimony showed Kim changeable Atchison successful the look aft Kim either yelled for Atchison to not determination oregon amusement his hands. Atchison abruptly moved his hands from nether the clothes. Family members accidental Atchison was raising his hands to surrender erstwhile Kim changeable him successful the face. Kim and different officers testified that they believed Atchison's determination was threatening, arsenic if helium had a gun. Brown ruled that fearfulness was tenable and justified a shooting successful self-defense.

“Nothing required suspect to clasp disconnected shooting until helium virtually saw a weapon successful Mr. Atchison's hand,” the justice wrote. “He had a tenable content Mr. Atchison was equipped and was going to sprout him. That is each that matters.”

Nabika Atchison, Jimmy Atchison's sister, said successful a connection that relatives are “deeply disappointed” by Brown's decision, “but with today's clime surrounding constabulary brutality, I can't accidental we are surprised.”

Tanya Miller, a Democratic authorities House subordinate and lawyer representing the Atchison family, said the determination is simply a “painful subversion of justice.”

“This determination underscores the troubling spread successful accountability erstwhile section officers run connected national task forces — a no-man's onshore wherever they tin interruption their ain department's policies, the Constitution, instrumentality a young life, and inactive debar lasting trial,” Miller wrote successful a substance message.

Don Samuel, a lawyer for Kim, said via email that the ruling was correct.

“It is hard to observe erstwhile a young antheral died," Samuel wrote, "but determination is nary uncertainty that the determination of the Fulton County DA’s bureau to compound the calamity by prosecuting Sung Kim was an inexcusable maltreatment of prosecutorial discretion."

The Georgia authorities league of the NAACP called connected Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to entreaty the ruling, saying it unjustly shields officers from accountability erstwhile they termination unarmed people.

“This ruling is not conscionable a stroke to the Atchison family's pursuit of justness — it's a menace to civilian rights and nationalist information crossed the nation,” said Gerald Griggs, president of the Georgia NAACP.