Derek-Chauvin

Brandon Mitchell, one of the 12 jurors in the Derek Chauvin trial and the first among them to go public, is defending his participation in the "Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks" protest last summer according to the Associated Press. For some, the resurfaced image surfaced brought into question whether he should have been eligible to serve on the jury. In the photo Mitchell said was posted by his uncle, the 31-year-old is captured attending the August 28 March On Washington event to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech among other things. There, siblings of George Floyd , Philonise and Bridgett Floyd, joined other families of victims of police violence in addressing the crowd.The picture depicts Mitchell wearing a T-shirt with a picture of King and the phrases, “Get Your Knee Off Our Necks” and “BLM.”#DerekChauvin jury selection:Judge: "Have you, or anyone close to you, participated in protests about police use of force or police brutality?"Potential Juror #BrandonMitchell : "No".Announcer's Voice: "But he did, in August, wearing a BLM shirt."#wednesdaythought pic.twitter.com/ud0LFx8trL— Dr. Jimmy Yam (@JimmyJoeYam) May 5, 2021The former Chauvin trial juror admitted to being at the event, but denied having any recollection of wearing or purchasing the shirt, according to The Minnesota Star Tribune.“I’d never been to D.C.,” Mitchell said. “The opportunity to go to D.C., the opportunity to be around thousands and thousands of Black people; I just thought it was a good opportunity to be a part of something.”The 31-year-old said the event was meant to honor the 57th anniversary of the renowned King speech that demanding civil rights and was integral in the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The 2020 event rallied for social justice advocacy in terms of racial equity, voter registration, updated voting laws and participation in the 2020 census.Prior to the juror selection process, Mitchell said he answered “no” to two questions about participation in protests on a questionnaire.The Star Tribune reports that the first question asked: “Did you, or someone close to you, participate in any of the demonstrations or marches against police brutality that took place in Minneapolis after George Floyd’s death?”For the second question, Mitchell was asked, “have you, or anyone close to you, participated in protests about police use of force or police brutality?”Chauvin's defense attorney Eric Nelson said Mitchell acknowledged during jury selection that he had a “very favorable” view of Black Lives Matter. He said that the former juror shared that he felt neutral about pro-police group Blue Lives Matter. Mitchell expressed that he could remain neutral and impartial at trial, according to The Star Tribune.Mike Brandt, a Minneapolis defense attorney who was unassociated with the Chauvin trial, said he believes that the Mitchell situation alone isn’t enough alone to overturn Chauvin’s conviction. However, Brandt said it could be combined with other issues in an appeal to contend that the former police officer was denied a fair trial.Law professor Ted Sampsell-Jones expressed that the photo of Mitchell was “evidence that Chauvin can point to in order to establish that his right to an impartial jury was denied," the Associated Press reports. Joseph Daly, emeritus professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, said the former police officer's appeal rests on whether the court believes Mitchell lied in his questionnaire or during jury selection, which is a...

Derek Chauvin’s legal team has filed a motion for a new trial this week, bringing into question the legitimacy and fairness of his April trial.As Blavity previously reported, the former Minneapolis police officer was convicted last month of second-degree unintentional murder, second-degree manslaughter and third-degree murder in the death of George Floyd.In four pages of court filings, attorney Eric Nelson detailed what he said was a number of mistakes made during the trial that violated Chauvin's constitutional rights to a due process and a fair trial, according to CNN. Nelson alleged that Hennepin Judge Peter Cahill committed prosecutorial misconduct, juror misconduct, witness intimidation and overlooked the impact of publicity of the case.Attorney Joe Tamburino, who was not associated with either side in the Chauvin trial, said the odds of the former police officer being granted a new trial are dismal.“It appears that when it comes to this alleged juror misconduct Derek Chauvin is asking for this verdict to be thrown out,” Tamburino said, according to CBS Minnesota. “Obviously the defense is under the gun, they have 14 days to do a motion for a new trial.”Last week, prosecutor Jerry Blackwell told Rev. Al Sharpton that he viewed the composition of the jury as a “bouquet of humanity.” Blackwell shared that the prosecution’s argument was centered on the shared humanity we all share, including the bystanders who were prohibited from helping Floyd.Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell reflects more on the Derek Chauvin trial. #PoliticsNation pic.twitter.com/4kohlpFJJv— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) May 2, 2021“Our theory was that the humanity that unites all of us is greater than any of the ideas that separate us,” he...

A high school assignment has sparked controversy among a group of Pennsylvania students and parents who say the classwork included biased questions about the Derek Chauvin trial and George Floyd.In the criminal justice class at Bishop McDevitt High School in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, students were instructed to answer 10 questions about the trial, in which Chauvin was found guilty for the murder of Floyd on May 25, 2020, ABC News reported. The students and parents have claimed the assignment was crafted in favor of Chauvin.Tim, a parent of a student at the Catholic high school who didn’t give his last name for fear of retribution, according to WPVI, said the questions were leveled with the teacher’s own opinion."You can't discuss something that's so fresh. And then you don't have facts in there, you just want people to answer your opinion," he said. One question asked the students whether Chauvin should have been charged with murder “if he did not directly kill him,” since medical experts allege there were "drugs in his system that then affected his heart." Students were also asked to explain their reasoning for their answers.Is this a #biased assignment? Parents of a student at Bishop McDevitt HS say it is. A teacher told students to answer these questions after the #DerekChauvin verdict. Student was too uncomfortable to do the assignment. Archdiocese of Philadelphia has apologized #GeorgeFloyd @6abc pic.twitter.com/Pd8bizcFMs— TaRhonda Thomas (@TaRhondaThomas) April 27, 2021 “Floyd was resisting arrest, so why is Chauvin still considered breaking the law through negligence?” another question asked.A number of parents initially expressed their outrage to the school’s administration according to a statement released from The Archdiocese of Philadelphia provided to ABC News. "School administration immediately communicated with those families after reviewing the assignment in question to apologize and discuss a plan of action moving forward to address the concerns. Those families with whom school administration was in contact expressed that they were pleased with the planned resolution," the statement read.When one student emailed the teacher to express their discomfort with the assignment, the teacher responded with an apology and informed the student that they would receive a zero for the assignment, according to the New York Post. “I understand if you do not wish to complete the assignment and would rather take the 0," the email allegedly read.   The assignment included preconceived biases that suggested the jury’s decision to convict Chauvin was ill-considered, despite mounts of probable evidence provided from the prosecution to claim otherwise.This isn't the first time an incident like this at a school has taken place surrounding Floyd and the trial for his death. In early April, a high school in Texas faced backlash from parents after freshmen students were asked to watch the video of Floyd’s death as part of an assignment. The students at Bishop McDevitt High School were eventually given another assignment, the New York Post...

Former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin, convicted on Tuesday for killing George Floyd, now finds himself in more turmoil as the U.S. Justice Department looks into his alleged assault against a Black teenager three years ago. Prosecutors first learned about the 2017 incident last year as they were preparing to present their argument in Floyd's case, ABC News reported. The court, however, blocked the prosecutors from bringing up the alleged incident as they tried to prove a pattern in Chauvin's behavior. Still, the Justice Department is considering whether it should bring federal charges for the previous incident. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, prosecutors first received a series of videos in November which showed Chauvin striking a Black teenager in the head. The former officer allegedly held the boy down with his knee for nearly 17 minutes and ignored the teen's complaint when he said he couldn't breathe. "Those videos show a far more violent and forceful treatment of this child than Chauvin describes in his report [of the incident]," Matthew Frank, one of the state prosecutors, wrote in a court filing.While making their case in the Chauvin trial, state prosecutors said the officer rapidly escalated his use of force for a relatively minor offense in 2017, as he did last year."Just like with Floyd, Chauvin used an unreasonable amount of force without regard for the need for that level of force or the victim's well-being," Frank wrote. The prosecutor also said the officer "grabbed the child by the throat, forced him to the ground in the prone position, and placed his knee on the child's neck with so much force that the child began to cry out in pain and tell Chauvin he could not breathe." Chauvin's defense attorney, Eric Nelson, said there is no similarity between the two cases. According to Nelson, the officer followed the Minneapolis Police Department policy by using a neck restraint against someone "actively resisting" arrest. “The similarities between the State’s proffered acts, which were non-criminal incidents of Mr. Chauvin acting in his duties as a Minneapolis Police officer, and the charged offenses are merely: They involved Mr. Chauvin effecting, or assisting in, the arrest of a suspect; all involved resistance from or a struggle with a suspect; some involved Mr. Chauvin using his body weight to control an arrestee; some involved a neck restraint,” Nelson wrote. “This is simply insufficient to show a marked similarity between the proffered incidents and the charged offenses.”The judge sided with Nelson and refused to let prosecutors use the evidence. The Minneapolis Police Department, which was recently briefed on the federal government's inquiry in the 2017 incident, said the agency will now cooperate with the Justice Department."We will assist the DOJ with anything that they need, and the chief has pledged full cooperation with any investigating agency," MPD spokesman John Elder said.In the 2017 encounter, Chauvin and another officer responded to a home where a woman said she had been attacked by her 14-year-old son and her daughter. Chauvin allegedly ordered the son to get on the ground and attacked him when he refused, hitting him with a flashlight multiple times and grabbing him by the throat. According to Frank, the ex-policeman also "applied a neck restraint, causing the child to lose consciousness and go to the ground." An ambulance eventually took the boy to a hospital, where he received stitches. As Blavity previously reported, the Justice Department also plans to launch a federal civil rights inquiry into Minneapolis police operations and its use of lethal force. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the investigation will examine officers' use of excessive force and discriminatory actions involving those with mental health problems, as well as department training policies and supervision."Broad participation in this investigation from the community and from law enforcement will be vital to its success. The Justice Department has already begun to reach out to community groups and members of the public to learn about their experiences with the MPD," Garland...

Judeah Reynolds, a 10-year-old girl who witnessed the killing of George Floyd last year, said she is proud of the role she played in bringing a guilty verdict against his killer, Derek Chauvin.Speaking to Good Morning America, Reynolds said she watched the verdict on TV on Tuesday as the former Minneapolis police officer was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.Prosecutors recalled the child's words from last year as they made their closing arguments during the trial."Ultimately, it really isn't that complicated," prosecutor Jerry Blackwell told jurors. "And what it is you have to decide is so simple that a child could understand it. In fact, a child did understand it when the 9-year-old girl said, 'Get off of him.' That's how simple it was. 'Get off of him.' Common sense." The child was going to the store last May when she saw Chauvin pressing his knee into Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes. Judeah's cousin, then 17-year-old high school student Darnella Frazier, recorded a video of the tragic incident.Darnella Frazier bravely filmed an atrocity and set off a chain of events that will go down in history. W/out her there wouldn’t have been charges. There would not have been Justice for George Floyd and his family. Salute this Queen. #RaiseAFist #DemVoice1 #FreshEmpowersWomen pic.twitter.com/RWHCW9I6mw— RosaSparks (@LqLana) April 21, 2021 "I think for the family we absolutely know that if not for Judeah we wouldn’t have been in that position at that time, so if not for Judeah there would have been no walk to the store for snacks and the video," Latoya Turk, a family friend, said. "For Judeah, I don’t think she realizes the magnitude that she has changed the world."Turk stood with Judeah in court as the child testified."We're trying to keep her 10-year-old life as normal as possible," Turk said. "As far as Judeah, I don't think she realizes the magnitude that she has changed the world." According to The Guardian, the heroic girl said she suffered nightmares after witnessing the killing and relied on her mom’s hugs for comfort.“I was sad and kind of mad,” she testified in court. “It felt like he was stopping his breathing and it was kind of like hurting him.”The 10-year-old is now writing a children's book titled, Judeah’s Walk to the Store. She hopes the book will inspire people to "be brave and bring change into their story.""My mom said that we brought change," the young author said. "My dad said, 'we...

A day after former officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty for the murder of George Floyd, the Justice Department announced its plan to launch a federal civil rights inquiry into Minneapolis police operations and its use of lethal force.Making the announcement on Wednesday, Attorney General Merrick Garland said there will be a deeper investigation to examine officers' use of excessive force and discriminatory actions involving those with mental health problems, as well as department training policies and supervision."Yesterday's verdict does not address potentially systemic police issues in Minneapolis," Garland said, according to USA Today. The civil rights inquiry is separate from the Justice Department's still pending criminal investigation into Floyd's death, NBC News reported. "Broad participation in this investigation from the community and from law enforcement will be vital to its success. The Justice Department has already begun to reach out to community groups and members of the public to learn about their experiences with the MPD," Garland said about the investigation, which will also determine whether Minneapolis police used excessive force during protests or engaged in discriminatory conduct.The attorney general is aiming to move forward with police reform efforts which were mostly blocked during Donald Trump's presidency. In a memo issued on Friday, Garland rescinded a previous directive given by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The Trump-era order had demanded Justice attorneys to limit the use of consent decrees, which are court-enforced agreements allowing federal judges to ensure promised reforms are underway."I strongly believe that good officers do not want to work in systems that allow bad practices," the attorney general said. "Good officers welcome accountability. Public safety requires public trust."As Blavity previously reported, Vice President Kamala Harris urged the senate on Tuesday to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. The bill intends to set up a national registry of police misconduct, preventing officers from moving to another jurisdiction to avoid consequences for their actions. The legislation also aims to stop racial and religious profiling, as well as ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants.In addition, the statute is focused on reexamining qualified immunity, which critics view as a harmful doctrine shielding law enforcement from accountability. "Black Americans and Black men in particular have been treated throughout the course of our history as less than human," Harris said. "Black men are fathers, and brothers, and sons, and uncles, and grandfathers, and friends, and neighbors. Their lives must be valued."President Joe Biden is also backing the bill, which cleared the House last month. "We need Congress to act," Biden said. "George Floyd died almost a year ago. There's meaningful police reform legislation in his name."In addition to investigating the Minneapolis Police Department, the Justice Department is examining three other law enforcement agencies. "We recognize that our community is hurting, and hearts are heavy with many emotions," Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said. "However, I have hope the community that I was born and raised in and that we serve is resilient, and together we can find our moment to begin to...

Darnella Fraizer’s decision to stand up against injustice and record the harrowing final minutes of George Floyd’s life is being regarded as one of the most essential components of former police officer Derek Chauvin’s murder conviction.On Tuesday, the jury in Chauvin’s trial reached a verdict and found him guilty of third-degree murder, second-degree unintentional murder and second-degree manslaughter, as Blavity previously reported.Later, the teenager posted on Facebook that she was so relieved with the outcome of the verdict that she wept."I just cried so hard,” she wrote. "I was so anxious, anxiety bussing through the roof. But to know GUILTY ON ALL 3 CHARGES !!! THANK YOU GOD THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.”I just cried so hard😩This last hour my heart was beating so fast, I was so anxious, anxiety bussing through the roof....Posted by Darnella Frazier on Tuesday, April 20, 2021In court, the then-17-year-old high school student recalled the events of May 25, 2020, where she captured the Black father writhing in pain, calling for his mother."I heard George Floyd saying, 'I can't breathe, please, get off of me' ... and crying for his mom," Frazier testified, CNN reports. "He was in pain. It seemed like he knew it was over for him."Angela Harrellson, Floyd's aunt, praised Frazier for her quick thinking and courageous act."The sad thing is if it hadn't been for that 17-year-old girl Darnella, it would have been another black man that was killed by the police ... and they would have said, 'Oh, it was drugs, oh it was this,'" Harrellson said. "And we would never have had the story we would have. And wouldn't be here today talking."The impact of Chauvin’s trial could have even greater implications on the law enforcement community at large.The North Carolina chapter of NAACP wrote a statement saying that Frazier’s video "will go down in history.”"Like the Abraham Zapruder film of the Assassination of President John Kennedy, the traditional police coverup was impossible," the statement read. "No one, not even many of Chauvin's police colleagues, could argue against Ms. Frazier's...

Vice President Kamala Harris urged the senate on Tuesday to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a bill that intends to prevent problematic officers from moving from one department to another while also ending police practices that have been under scrutiny.Harris said the legislation would "hold law enforcement accountable and help build trust between law enforcement and our communities." She added that the bill should not be viewed as "a panacea to every problem, but as a start." "This work is long overdue. America has a long history of systemic racism," the vice president said, according to The Week. "Black Americans and Black men in particular have been treated throughout the course of our history as less than human. Black men are fathers, and brothers, and sons, and uncles, and grandfathers, and friends, and neighbors. Their lives must be valued."According to USA Today, President Joe Biden is also backing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which cleared the House last month. "We need Congress to act," Biden said. "George Floyd died almost a year ago. There's meaningful police reform legislation in his name."The president talked to Floyd's family on Tuesday after a Minneapolis jury announced the verdict against former officer Derek Chauvin, who was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter."I'm feeling better now," Biden said to Floyd's loved ones. "There's nothing that's going to make it all better. But at least now there's some justice. And you know, I think of Gianna's comment: 'My daddy's going to change the world.' We're going to start to change it now."Reflecting on the death of Floyd, who struggled to breathe as his head was pinned under Chauvin's knee for more than nine minutes last year, the 46th president said it was "a murder in the full light of day" that "ripped the blinders off for the whole world to see systemic racism."According to CNN, Democratic Rep. Karen Bass said Tuesday's verdict "gives us hope" for a policing overhaul bill. "I am hoping that we will get it over the finish line and this will be positive," the California representative said.Bass is working with GOP Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and Democratic Sen. Cory Booker to sketch out the details of the bill. The proponents said there are still hurdles to pass the act, but they feel optimistic as the legislation heads to the Senate for formal negotiations.Bass said the goal is to have some language for the bill decided by May 25, the one-year anniversary of Floyd's death. The proposed law would set up a national registry of police misconduct, preventing officers from moving to another jurisdiction to avoid consequences for their actions. The bill also aims to ban racial and religious profiling by law enforcement at the federal, state and local levels, as Blavity previously reported. In addition, the statute looks to ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants while also reexamining qualified immunity, which critics view as a harmful doctrine shielding law enforcement from...

A friend of Sandra Bland, who was found dead in a jail cell after being apprehended by police in 2015, was standing near the Cups Food store where George Floyd was killed when she caught news of Derek Chauvin's guilty verdict. Though bittersweet, she told CNN reporter Omar Jimenez that the moment stands as proof that times are changing. "My feeling was, it's very bittersweet because his family, much like a good friend of mine, Sandy Bland, Sandy as I knew her, will never see him again, will never touch him, will never hug him and his daughter will grow up without a father," she said. "They will never see him again and he's still six feet under so justice in my opinion will never be served but it is very bittersweet. It's at least something. We're getting somewhere in this country. We're seeing some progress." Bland was pulled over in the summer of 2015 by state trooper Brian Encinia for failing to signal per Chron. During the traffic stop, Encinia said the then-28-year-old failed to follow his order to put out a cigarette and refused to get out of the car. After a physical altercation ensued, Bland was taken into custody and found hanging inside a cell three days later.  After public outcry brought into question the lack of details surrounding Bland’s death, a former guard admitted to falsifying records stating that he checked in on Bland just before her death was discovered.  Following Bland's mysterious death, trooper Encinia was fired and indicted on perjury after a grand jury cast doubt on his statement about removing Bland from her car to proceed in a more safe traffic stop. In 2016, Bland’s family reached a settlement of $1.9 million in a federal wrongful death suit against Texas authorities. Under terms of the settlement, the Waller County jail will now utilize an on-duty nurse and emergency medical technician during all shifts. Almost four years later, on May 25, 2020, Floyd was physically restrained during a fatal encounter with former Minneapolis police officer Chauvin who placed his knee into the Black father’s neck. Chauvin sat on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes while bystanders urged him to check the dying man’s vitals. On Tuesday, a jury in a Hennepin County courthouse found that Chauvin was guilty third-degree murder, second-degree unintentional murder and second-degree manslaughter, as Blavity previously reported.  During the trial, a heart specialist testified that Chauvin had his knee jammed into Floyd's neck for more than three minutes after "there was not an ounce of oxygen left" in his body. The former police officer pleaded not guilty to all three charges after a judge reinstated the charge of third-degree murder in March.  In total, the second-degree unintentional murder could carry the largest penalty with a maximum of 40 years in prison. The lesser charge of third-degree murder could net Chauvin up to 25 years in prison, and the third charge of second-degree manslaughter carries a maximum of 10 years. After this week's verdict, a sentencing hearing will be scheduled for a later...

After nearly a year since former officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd outside of a Minneapolis corner store, a jury has reached a verdict.Jurors deliberated for more than 10 hours over two days before reaching a verdict and found the ex-officer guilty of third-degree murder, second-degree unintentional murder and second-degree manslaughter, according to CNN. Prosecution and defense teams rested their case after three weeks of testimony from experts, witnesses and Floyd's loved ones.Floyd was killed on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin pressed his knee into his neck for more than nine minutes.The defense team argued that the Black father did not die from asphyxiation, but rather underlying health conditions. Experts, however, discounted those claims saying that Floyd died as an exact result of Chauvin's detainment, NBC News reported. Prosecutor Steven Schleicher further urged the jury to rely on their eyes when deliberating. "Use your common sense. Believe your eyes. What you saw, you saw," he said during closing arguments. "You know how George Floyd died.""This wasn't policing; this was murder," he added.A pulmonary expert testified in court that Chauvin had his knee on Floyd's neck for more than three minutes after "there was not an ounce of oxygen left" in his body. The former officer's attorneys asked the jury to consider the "totality of circumstances and facts." An attorney cited Floyd's health history and underlying medical conditions as a contributing factor in his death. “The proper analysis is to take those 9 minutes and 29 seconds and put it into the context of the totality of the circumstances that a reasonable police officer would know,” attorney Eric Nelson said on Monday.Nelson argued that officers perform their jobs in high-stress situations and called the incident "tragic." The jury was made up of two white men, four white women, two mixed-race women, three Black men and one Black woman, all ranging in age from their 20s to 60s. Jurors were fully sequestered during deliberations at the request of Judge Peter Cahill who proceeded over the trial. Cahill said it was up to jurors on how long deliberations would take, adding that "and so because that's entirely up to you— whether it's an hour or a week— it's entirely within your province," CNN reported. Jurors were only allowed to use their electronic devices to contact family members as long as they avoided "discussion of the trial."Following the verdict, a sentencing hearing will be scheduled for a later date, according to Minnesota law which states "whenever a person is convicted of a felony, the court, upon motion of either the defendant of the state, shall hold a sentencing hearing. The hearing shall be scheduled so that the parties have adequate time to prepare and present arguments regarding the issue of sentencing."Of all of the charges, second-degree unintentional murder carries the largest penalty with a maximum of 40 years in prison. The lesser charge is third-degree murder and could result in 25 years in prison.The third charge, second-degree manslaughter, has a maximum penalty of 10 years.Chauvin had previously pleaded not guilty to all three charges after a judge reinstated the charge of third-degree murder, as Blavity previously reported.Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said the reinstatement of the third-degree murder charge "reflects the gravity of the allegations" against the former officer. During the summer of 2020, the United States attempted to grapple with the Black Lives Matter protests that kicked off in response to Floyd's killing. Now, ahead of the verdict, the city of Minneapolis has implemented several public safety precautions, including virtual schooling for students."The racism and violence that has been highlighted in these tragic incidents may be widely discussed among some students in our schools," Minneapolis Public School Superintendent Ed Graff said in the letter posted on the school system's website, according to ABC 7."As appropriate and as they are comfortable, teachers will give students the opportunity to process their feelings, how this feels to them personally and how they are impacted by having the eyes of the world on Minneapolis," he added.Officials were also seen installing razor wire around a police building and the National Guard was deployed to the city in anticipation of the verdict.Prior to the start of the trial, Mayor Jacob Frey said that up to 2,000 National Guard troops will be prepared to deploy to the area in addition to law enforcement from other jurisdictions. Officials in other cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City said they were preparing their neighborhoods accordingly. In San Francisco, police said discretionary days for their officers were denied. The Atlanta Police Department said the city was prepared to respond quickly, if...