Report: Officers Who Yanked Atlanta Couple From Car Are ‘Good Cops,’ Police Chief Says

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Police Chief Erika Shields shared her comments in an email to employees late Tuesday, claiming that the officers elevated a “low-level” encounter with the two college students in the car and claimed that it was “political jockeying” behind the Fulton County District Attorney’s decision to charge the six officers.

The encounter, which was captured on video and widely shared Saturday night, showed officers going up to a car and violently removing the couple—breaking windows, tasing them and yanking the two out of the car before forcing them to the ground and handcuffing the two with zip ties.

In the email Tuesday, Shields said she expected the officers’ actions would end up being justified, but she and Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms decided to fire two of the officers and place four others on administrative leave after a review of body camera footage.

But Shields clearly did not expect criminal charges to come against the officers, saying the officers are “good people and good cops,” while claiming that the DA—who did not immediately respond to Shields’ comments when asked by Forbes—is only bringing charges because he’s facing two challengers in the June 9 Democratic primary and that no one consulted her about charging the officers.

Shields also claimed that “multiple agencies” that were assisting Atlanta Police with controlling unrest have stopped doing so, since “They are not comfortable with their employees being leveraged politically by the potential of also facing criminal charges,” though Shields did not identify which agencies were aiding Atlanta Police nor which had decided to leave.

The woman pulled from the car was released without charges, while the man was booked for attempting to elude the officers, but Bottoms ordered that charge dropped.