An Atlanta police officer has been placed on administrative duty after video showed him throwing a woman to the ground during an arrest last weekend in Buckhead.
Footage of the encounter was provided to an AJC videographer who was at the scene of the unrest near Lenox Square early last Saturday. The video appears to show the officer pulling 24-year-old Amber Jackson from a car and slamming her onto the pavement as he placed her in handcuffs.
Jackson, a dental hygienist, said Saturday that her clavicle was broken during the encounter.
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The incident occurred about 1 a.m., hours after the first night of Atlanta protests turned violent amid widespread reports of looting across the city.
COMPLETE COVERAGE: Atlanta protests
In a statement, Atlanta police said the officer approached Jackson after she tried to remove a barricade that was blocking the road.
“The woman refused the officer's orders to exit the vehicle,” APD spokesman Carlos Campos said. “He attempted to get her out of the car and the two struggled. During her effort to resist the arrest, the officer had to force her to the ground to get her in handcuffs.”
Jackson said she and her fiance had been out protesting that evening and were leaving when the incident occurred. She said she moved the barricade so they could go home, but denies resisting arrest.
“I get back in the car and the officer snatches me out and threw me onto the ground,” she said. “I felt very dehumanized.”
She said she has never been arrested and that her first experience with law enforcement was a traumatic one.
In the body camera footage released by Atlanta police, the officer appears to curse at Jackson and call her stupid before putting her into the back of a police SUV. She and her fiance sat handcuffed in the patrol car for about an hour before being released on a disorderly conduct charge.
“People are coming out to protest police brutality and they’re being brutalized by the police,” Jackson’s attorney, Mawuli Davis, said. “It’s really nonsensical that this continues despite the very public demonstrations that are happening across the country.”
The officer, who was not named, remains on administrative assignment amid an internal investigation into his use of force. That investigation by APD’s Office of Professional Standards will determine whether he violated any department policies or procedures, Campos said.
Six other Atlanta police officers were charged this week after video of them violently detaining two people during last weekend’s protests was broadcast on live television.
Messiah Young, 22, and his girlfriend, Taniyah Pilgrim, 20, were driving through downtown Atlanta on Saturday night when a group of Atlanta officers busted out the windows of their car and used Tasers on both of them.
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Police Chief Erika Shields fired two of the officers involved last Sunday after reviewing body camera footage of the incident alongside Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
On Tuesday, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announced criminal charges against all six of the officers involved.
MORE: Fulton County DA moves swiftly to charge six APD officers
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