The investigation looks at the night of May 30, 2020, when officers were filmed breaking the windows of a student car, pulling a woman out of the car and hitting a man. The students were identified as Messiah Young and Tania Pilgrim, who attended Morehouse and Spelman Colleges, which have historically been black schools.
The review found that Young and Pilgrim had broken into curfew that night and had been approached by officers, according to a statement released Monday by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
“The evidence in this case shows that the use of force by the officers involved was a direct result of Mr Young’s and Mrs Pilgrim’s resistance and non-compliance with the officers’ instructions,” the statement said.
The students’ lawyers said they had been victims of “unjustified violence”.
The students said that at that time they were going home to get food when they were caught in the traffic in the city center. The arrest left Young with a broken wrist, about 20 stitches on his forearm and bruises on his ribs, he told CNN in 2020.
The incident happened during national protests against the murder of George Floyd.
Four of the six employees were eventually fired after the incident, and two filed a lawsuit. According to then-Fulton County Attorney Paul Howard, some of the charges against the officers included a severe assault on Young, a severe attack on Pilgrim, a simple beating and criminal damage to property, according to then-Fulton County Attorney Paul Howard.
The dismissal of two employees was canceled in early 2021. A lawyer told them they were looking forward to returning to full service. CNN could not determine the status of the other four employees on Monday.
The results of the inspection reject the sworn statements of arrest against the employees, the statement said.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was asked to conduct an independent criminal investigation as early as August 2021, the statement said. The review was led by Cherokee District Attorney Samir Patel.
Regarding the widespread video of the incident, the statement said that it was “not an accurate depiction of the whole meeting between Mr. Young, Ms. Pilgrim and the police.”
The students’ lawyers said in a statement that they were all “incredibly disappointed and discouraged by the decision”.
“The world has witnessed the outrageous and unjustified level of violence against these students,” said L. Chris Stewart, Justin Miller and Mawley Davis.
“How can a broken arm and 25 stitches be considered an appropriate response to an alleged curfew violation?” The fact that these students and their families had to wait in grief and keep their lives for two years while this case was kicked around the legal system is just as scandalous, “the lawyer said in a statement.
Vince Champion, director of the Southeast Region for the International Police Brotherhood, told CNN: “I’m happy for our people.”
“We have always said to wait until the investigation is over,” Champion said. “Now that the investigation is over, we are happy that the charges have been dropped.”
Aditi Sangal, Tina Burnside, Eric Levenson and CNN’s Pamela Kirkland contributed to this report.
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