Supporters of Chief Scott Freeman and his decision to fire an Athens police officer who struck a suspect with his patrol vehicle are speaking out. District 7 Commissioner-elect Russell Edwards says the negative, national attention to the video of the incident should be addressed.
"I hope to see more support from our community come out and stand with the chief."
“It troubles me greatly to see white supremacist trolls from across the nation calling out our chief of police, attacking our chief of police for doing what I see is the right thing>” Edwards said. “I’m proud to stand with the chief’s decision, he made the right call and I hope to see more support from our community.”
Edwards says the chief had no other choice.
“I’m a civil rights attorney, I’ve tried civil rights cases all the way up to e 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, excessive force claims against the police are weighed and reasoned according to Supreme Court Doctrine Graham v Connor which is the case cited by Scott Freeman in justifying this decision.”
He says three factors must be considered in these type cases.
“You has to assess it according the criteria of What was the severity of the crime, What was the force applied and did the suspect pose a threat to any other person.”
An Internal affairs investigation found that Officer Taylor Saulters used excessive force in hitting suspect Timothy Patmon.
