Atlanta police officer sentenced 20 years in prison for kicking teen

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Former Atlanta Cop Sentenced To 20 Years For Kicking Unarmed Teen

We love the smell of sizzling bacon in the morning.

According to CBS46, a former Atlanta police officer, Matthew Johns, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for a 2016 incident in which he was recorded repeatedly kicked unarmed 15-year-old Antraveious Payne in the head.

Payne was pulled over for driving a stolen car and immediately surrendered to police. While laying on his stomach with his arms outstretched to prove he was not holding a weapon, Payne was seen on the police dash cam being kicked by bum a$$ “officer” Johns. The boy was subsequently hospitalized for bleeding in his mouth, cuts, a neck strain and a concussion.

Fulton County District Attorney Paul L. Howard, Jr. wrote a somewhat snarky statement about this case:

“While criminal justice systems across this country struggle to investigate, prosecute, and hold police officers accountable, in Fulton County a law enforcement officer pleaded guilty today.

There were no demonstrations or marches by concerned citizens, no chants, or any destruction of property. It was not necessary because the criminal justice system did exactly what concerned citizens demand of it; fairness, transparency, and action. “The case was investigated by the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office. No special prosecutor from another jurisdiction was required.

He continued…

The police officers involved provided dash cam video which captured the entirety of the incident. Once the officers viewed the tape, they stated their colleague and fellow officer was wrong and agreed to testify against him. The officer was fired, not placed on administrative leave by his very own police chief, his own peers.

Today, he accepted responsibility and entered a guilty plea. Today, the Fulton County Criminal Justice System worked!”

We get that this case is an example of police accountability, but that lil’ part about “no demonstrators or marches” is a disingenuous shot at Black Lives Matter and other groups who mobilized the fifty-leven OTHER times that the police nor the criminal “justice” system failed and there are WAY more of those than these.