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That’s suspicious… two Cobb County cops resigned from the department following the resurfacing of a troubling body camera video showing their violent arrest of a Black man. The tea is that the two were supposed to be fired already.
Let’s back up.
On August, 19, 2023, officers responded to a report of two pairs of people aiming guns at each other near the Six Flags Over Georgia parking lot. When the officers approached Montavious Smith, he was by himself and already lying chest-down on the concrete, per the body camera video. One officer got on Smith’s back and began punching him repeatedly as the other officers surrounded and held onto his legs and arms.
“Please don’t kill me! I’m underaged!” Smith is heard yelling in the video as the officers commanded him to put his hands behind his back while his bare chest was pressed into the concrete.
In the incident report, officers Nicholas Malagon and Noah Maack said they had to tackle him to the ground. However, an internal affairs investigation revealed their description of the event didn’t relate to the content of the video, where Smith doesn’t appear to resist the officers at all, per WSB-TV.
That’s where the officers got themselves in trouble.
Read more from WSB-TV:
Cobb County Police Chief Stuart VanHoozer says he terminated Malagon for unreasonable use of force and other policy violations. Maack was fired for making false statements in his incident report, including saying that Smith was tackled.
Maack also suggested to internal affairs that his report was based on what he saw and other sources of information.
“I mean, not really. I mean, I guess I could use a different word other than tackle,” Maack can be heard saying in a recording of an interview with internal affairs.
The chief also asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to determine if there were any criminal charges that should have been added.
However, a whole year later, it turns out the officers didn’t get booted from their jobs just yet. The report says Wednesday, the officers formally resigned from their positions instead of facing termination. So much for facing the consequences of their actions.
As for Smith, he still faces a misdemeanor drug charge, obstruction of law enforcement and tampering with evidence, per the Cobb Solicitor’s Office.
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