An Atlanta Cop Killed This Man For Refusing To Sign a Ticket

Now his victim's family has been awarded a $3.8 million settlement.

Johnny Hollman called 911 after he was in a minor traffic accident. But instead of helping, the responding officer beat and tased Hollman after he was hesitant to sign a ticket, resulting in the 62-year-old's death. 

Hollman's family sued, and they've now been awarded a $3.8 million settlement.

"While nothing can undo what has been done," Atlanta mayor Andre Dickens said in a statement this week, "my priority was to get this family as close to full closure from this unfortunate tragedy as soon as possible."

During the evening of August 10th, 2023, Hollman was driving home when he was involved in a low-speed collision with another vehicle. According to Hollman's family's lawsuit, both Hollman and the other driver called 911 to report the accident. While no one was injured, both drivers disputed who was at fault for the accident. 

After more than an hour, Atlanta Police Department Officer Kiran Kimbrough arrived on the scene. Soon after, he decided that Hollman was at fault and wrote him a citation. 

However, Hollman was hesitant to sign the citation. "Deacon Hollman did not explicitly refuse to sign the citation," the suit states. (Hollman was a Deacon at his local church). "But in each instance when directed to do so, responded that the collision was not his fault."

Eventually, Kimbrough threatened to send Hollman to jail unless he signed the ticket, and Hollman called one of his daughters.

According to the suit, Kimbrough then began walking towards Hollman. Almost simultaneously, Kimbrough reached to grab one of Hollman's arms, and Hollman said "I'll sign the ticket."

Hollman said several more times that he would sign the ticket. However, "ignoring Deacon Hollman's concession to his request that he sign the ticket, Defendant Kimbrough performed a leg sweep maneuver on Deacon Hollman, taking Deacon Hollman to the ground," the suit states. "While doing so, Defendant Kimbrough commented to Deacon Hollman: 'You acting crazy!'"

Over the next several minutes, Kimbrough struck the back of Hollman's head at least twice with his fist, tased him twice, and allowed another citizen to "assist" him by sitting on Hollman's head and neck, while ignoring Hollman's frequent statements that he couldn't breathe.

Eventually, Hollman was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy later concluded that the cause of Hollman's death was homicide.

Following the incident, the Atlanta Police Department revised its policies to prohibit arresting an individual solely for refusing to sign a ticket, and Kimborough was fired.

Hollman's family filed a lawsuit against Kimbrough and the City of Atlanta in January. This week, they were awarded a $3.8 million settlement in the case.

"We recognize this, not just as a victory for their family," Mawuli Davis, one of Hollman's family's attorneys told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday. "But really an acknowledgment of the importance of community in these fights for justice."

Comments

[Don't look at me!]

Must know everyone’s skin color before passing judgement.

[Zeb]

From the pictures, it looks like the victim changed his skin color at some point.

[Don't look at me!]

So chameleon ?

[Rob Misek]

“ Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein is speaking out after being arrested at a pro-Palestinian protest at Washington University in St. Louis on Saturday.

“We were violently assaulted and arrested with ~100 others peacefully protesting genocide at Washington University in St. Louis,” Stein said on X Monday.

“Many US police departments – including St. Louis’ – are being trained by Israel to use military occupation-style tactics against their own communities,””

[LIBtranslator]

Grand Goblin eugenicist detected...
This is what Reason attracts by the boatload thanks to Mises Caucasians.

[Graf Fuddington von Fuddrick]

You’re a senile crackpot. You know that, right?

[mad.casual]

Knowing Emma's skin color, I give it a 50/50 as to whether the headline is true or exaggeration.

[Jerry B.]

More Black on Black crime, per the pictures of the cop.

[Zeb]

So he does appear to be black. Oddly, none of the stories I looked at mentioned his race. Is it because the officer was black too? Or because people are only supposed to get worked up when a scumbag gets killed by the cops and not when an apparently upstanding deacon of the church (which every story does mention) does?

[John Rohan]

Both the officer and the victim were black, which is probably why we didn't have George Floyd style rioting.

https://cbsaustin.com/news/nation-world/atlanta-police-officer-kiran-kimbrough-fired-death-arrest-johnny-hollman-church-deacon-stun-gun-taser-dispute-crash-traffic-ticket

[Medulla Oblongata]

Yes. If a white cop kills a black man it is cause for national riots. If a black cop kills a black man, there might be some civil rights noise made, depending on how stupid the cop was. White cops shooting white people apparently never ever happens, as cops only ever kill black people. In the rare case where a black cop shoots an unarmed white person, it's "Good for him!" and absolutely zero consequences.

[Rick James]

Hollman’s family filed a lawsuit against Kimbrough and the City of Atlanta in January. This week, they were awarded a $3.8 million settlement in the case.

unpossible! The Jones Act makes such outcomes unattainable!

[LIBtranslator]

The 1920 Wesley Livsey Jones Act saying to jail Liberian ship captains? Or the Wesley Livsey Jones Act making possession fo beer a chain-gang felony in 1929? Why not pass a bunch of cammie Miller, Smith and Brown Acts?

[kevrob]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Marine_Act_of_1920 ?

[MWAocdoc]

Ignored in this travesty is the fact that you are NOT required by law to sign a ticket. The officer simply writes, "Refused to sign" on the ticket and that's the end of it. I have no idea why they remained at the scene for over an hour waiting for the police or why the deacon didn't call his family for a ride immediately if there was a problem. Something doesn't smell right here.

[Don't look at me!]

It almost never does.

[Graf Fuddington von Fuddrick]

Who can say? Little Emma, and Reason rioters in general, tend to leave out crucial information when writing these articles.

[Medulla Oblongata]

There's a narrative to push. Any facts that detract from the narrative are omitted, and they hope you never look them up.

[Graf Fuddington von Fuddrick]

Sadly true.

[MrMxyzptlk]

Govern me harder daddy.

[EdG]

Your solution is fleeing the scene of an accident? Interesting.

[John Rohan]

Per the article, he was required by law at that time.

However the police should emphasize that signing the ticket isn't an admission of guilt, it's simply an agreement to either pay it or show up in court to dispute it.

[Mickey Rat]

Why do I have a suspicion that there is something in this chain of events that is being glossed over or left out entirely?

[J Mann]

Reason’s not good at telling the cops’ stories.

The full hour of police video is up on YouTube. From what I’ve seen, Hollman was non-compliant, but the cop (also black) was out of line and his mistake was the principal cause of the death, followed by Hollman’s decision not to allow the (illegal) arrest to proceed.

1) Cop orders Hollman to sign the ticket, Hollman refuses.

2) Cop puts Hollman under arrest for refusing to sign ticket. Hollman shouts and struggles, although not in any way that’s a danger to the cops.

3) They end up on the pavement with cop repeatedly instructing Hollman to put his hands behind his back. Hollman refuses and continues shouting and struggling, and with cop trying to get control of Hollman’s arms to cuff him. Cop tasers Hollman without much apparent effect. (I can’t see whether he’s actually tasing Hollman or just firing the stungun in the air as a threat.) Hollman is yelling that he can’t breathe, and continuing to try to prevent cop from getting his hands cuffed.

4) At some point in the struggle, Hollman goes limp, apparently dead. I couldn’t see if it was the tasing, if he hit his head on the ground, or something like a heart attack.

Atlanta PD has confirmed that their policy is first to inform the ticketee that signing is not an admission of guilt but just confirms that they got the ticket, then to write “Refused to Sign” if the ticketee continues to refuse. However, according to the Reason story, that wasn't their policy at the time of the incident.

I'd want to know whether the cop was trained to arrest people for bs like refusing to sign a ticket or generally being distraught and excitable. I assume not, so it looks bad, but I'm not a use of force expert.

[mad.casual]

Reason’s not good at telling the cops’ stories.

Reason’s not good at telling any stories except maybe Russian Pee Dossiers, Laptops Planted by Russians, Two Weeks To Slow the Spread, Lab Leak Is A Conspiracy Theory, and Stolen Document stories, and even then it’s more of a “What is your definition of ‘good’?” issue.

[John Rohan]

Your version adds some details, but I'm confused why you think any of that contradicts the article.

[J Mann]

I don't think it contradicts the article, just that those are important details to know and Reason typically leaves them out. I want to hear the steelman for the cops in these cases even if it ultimately fails, because I want to consider both sides.

In this specific case, my first draft actually concluded that I thought Reason's take was supported by the details, but now I'm a little more undecided. Here's where I come out.

(1) If it was reasonable given the cop's training to arrest a guy for not signing a ticket, then this is a systemic problem, not an individual one, and while the APD has solved it in this specific case, they and other departments should probably take an overall look to see where else they can reduce these friction points. (I don't have any idea whether it was reasonable. The fact that the APD has since changed their policy to make clear you shouldn't arrest someone for not signing a ticket implies that maybe the previous policy was that officers should do so, or maybe a reasonable officer wouldn't have made the arrest based on general training.)

(2) It's helpful to know that the victim was struggling with the cops and trying his best not to get cuffed. It highlights that we're not just dealing with a problem of murderous cops - the problem is that every single arrest carries the possibility of harming the suspect or the cop, so we need policies that address the risk/reward similar to high speed chases or something -- sometimes they're the right decision and sometimes they're not. (I assume most police departments know this and think about it a lot, but to the extent we normies are going to have opinions, we should know it too.)

(3) It's also true that we can save a bunch of lives if we encourage people to comply with police instructions, and save their resistance for a lawsuit or something. This isn't to excuse cops, and we should hold them or their institutions accountable when avoidable harm occurs, but we can still save a lot of lives with a norm of complying with police instructions.

[Stuck in California]

Emma Camp is an assistant editor at Reason.

That’s why.

[Graf Fuddington von Fuddrick]

Yep.

[Enemy of the State]

It's nice that victims of the state get paid money when they successfully sue. The problem is they are not getting the state's money since the state just takes what it needs from other people...

[EdG]

The state doesn't have insurance?

[Rossami]

No, states are not insurable for criminal acts of their employees. More precisely, they are self-insured.

However, even if insurance were available, an incident like this would be passed back to the state in higher premiums which would, again, be paid by the taxpayers, not by any of the people who actually did the bad stuff. Until we start holding bad cops (and their supervisors personally liable, this abuse will continue.

[Graf Fuddington von Fuddrick]

Cops should have to care E&O insurance. I had to when I was writing consumer residential mortgage loans. So do realtors, appraisers etc.. and none of those people are in a position to kill people during the performance of their professional duties.

So I see no reason why cops shouldn’t have to carry it. Then the bad ones would rapidly become uninsurable. Thus eliminating them from law enforcement, and defraying the cost to the taxpayers.

[EdG]

"the cause of Hollman's death was homicide"

Um, no. That was the manner. The cause was possibly a heart attack or blunt force trauma. Apparently Reason couldn't find it in the autopsy report.

[Mickey Rat]

Understanding legal terminology is very hard when you are a political journalist.

[LIBtranslator]

Whutabout FENTANYL? That commie dope popularized by laws banning all safe and non-toxic drugs is God's gift to murdering berserker cops. Ask your local government coroner for a throwdown sample kit and already-signed fill-in-the-blanks report.

[Scooter]

Are you on drugs?

LMFAO

[Rossami]

Well, at least he got fired. That's better than most times. Should be doing jail time, though.

[Butler T. Reynolds]

That wasn't very deaconly behavior. Even so, the Jones Act should still be repealed.

[KiwiDude]

“ and allowed another citizen to "assist" him by sitting on Hollman's head and neck, while ignoring Hollman's frequent statements that he couldn't breathe.”

Great work by the cop and the citizen?
How retarded are you to get involved in that sort of shit? I’ll sit on someones head/neck, what could go wrong?

Cop should be up on charges rather than, I assume, getting a job next county over

[Liberty_Belle]

Did they arrest the "citizen" for homicide ? What is the liability for getting involved in something you should keep your nose out of ?

[LIBtranslator]

Shucks. In Alabama, if he'd been a girl, they'd've just beaten the bloody stool out of the disobedient miscreant then threatened bystanders. Qualified immunity has legalized both murder and assault under color of law. MAGAts lap it up as long as it's brown folks and women killed and beaten.

[Scooter]

Is it computer day at the Asylum?

[AT]

Hollman can then be heard repeating, “I can’t breathe.”

*drink*

[AT]

My favorite line of the bodycam footage is, "Come on, car's already f'd up."

But seriously - he was instructed to put his arms behind his back fourteen times. Why do so many people struggle with that simple command when it would immediately deescalate the police confrontation, regardless of the circumstances that led to it. What possible positive outcome do they imagine will come from it?

[sarcasmic]

Why do people excuse police when they murder someone for failure to obey an unlawful command?

[AT]

I never excused the cop. Why’d you immediately try to pivot to that? It’s like you were avoiding the question completely.

Did you watch the bodycam footage? Why would ANYONE ever behave like that dude did in the presence of a cop? It’s like sitting on a park bench that has a “wet paint” sign on it, and then wondering why your shirt and pants are stained green. Dude, what did you expect? Are you stupid or something?

[sarcasmic]

Why would ANYONE ever behave like that dude did in the presence of a cop?

My guess would be that most people don’t have interactions with police beyond traffic tickets, and because of that think that cops are the good guys you see on tv and in the movies.

They don’t understand that when you ask the police for help they run you for warrants, search you for contraband, look for evidence of you committing a crime, and if they fail to find an excuse to arrest you will most likely tell you you deserved it before rolling to the next person asking them for help for the first and last time. And if you object they will fuck you up.

[AT]

Language.

OK, so if we tease your theory out a little bit, and we accept the premise that most people equate actual cops with fictional ones on television then... um... why would ANYONE ever behave like that dude did in the presence of a cop? Are they so reeling in surprise that fantasy and reality aren't the same, that it takes over their rational mind completely and makes them act like crazy people?

Even knowing they do all the things you just said - when he says "put your hands behind your back" (or "freeze" or "let me see your hands") what upside is there to doing ANYTHING BUT THAT right there in that moment? What do they think they're going to get out of it?

Even taking your "if you object they will mess you up" belief at face value without any question or criticism - doesn't knowing that illustrate my point?

[Mike Litoris]

A simple dashcam could have saved somebody's butt.

[wrwoodman]

"Eventually, Hollman was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy later concluded that the cause of Hollman's death was homicide."

So why isn't Kimborough on trial for murder?

[sarcasmic]

Because fuck you, that's why.

[Scooter]

Homicide is death at the hands of another. By itself it is not definitive of a criminal act. It could be justifiable (self defense) or negligent (civil suit).

[docduracoat]

I agree with commenter AT.
It’s an unlawful command.
It’s an illegal arrest.
Not complying resulted in his death.
So why not comply?
You can argue in court, and later sue.
At the scene, there is no possible positive outcome from not complying.
I bet if you had asked him before this happened, would you prefer to struggle and get killed, or get handcuffed and maybe spend a night in jail.
He would pick the handcuffs

[Liberty_Belle]

The only defense of this is , if I was taught correctly , is that signing the ticket isn't an admission of guilt ... just a written promise to appear in court. If you don't sign it, the police have to arrest you and hold you in jail until your court date to make sure you are there. Now somewhere in the legal mumbo-jumbo there is an OPTION to let you go without signing , but that is up to discretion.

So really, the cop should have just informed him that it isn't admission of guilt and asked him if he wanted to sign or sit in jail for an indeterminate length of time until his court date. And let him make a rational decision and proceed from there. ( and keep non-trained civilians from sitting on people until they die.)

[Scooter]

Actually, the police don't have to arrest you for refusal. The officer can write "Refused to Sign" and notify the person that the ticket will go to court and a warrant will be issued if he/she fails to show. I'm honestly amazed this wasn't already policy with a major metropolitan department like the Atlanta PD.

[jonnysage]

Bad headline. Cop kills FOR: implies intention, and theres no evidence of that here that he intended for him to die. For refusing to sign ticket: also not what happened. He used force due to the resistance of the man. That may or may not have caused his death. The article doesnt provide that information. Did he kill him with a taze, a blow, or the position?

[NM Dave]

Regardless of his intention, the officer's actions did indeed result in the death of a citizen who posed absolutely no threat to him. If you or I had done this, that same officer would have arrested us and pushed for maximum charges. But then, laws don't apply to cops, now, do they? The usual excuse is "I was in fear for my life" and the cop didn't even try to tell that lie.

[AT]

You must be new. See, this is an Emma Camp article.

[NM Dave]

$1,000 bucks says this murderer is already on the force in some other town still violently assaulting innocent citizens. Probably for more money.