ATLANTA (AP) - A lawsuit filed by a man who accused Atlanta police of slamming him to the ground and unlawfully arresting him can proceed to trial, a federal court ruled this week.
A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected the city of Atlanta’s request to dismiss the 2016 lawsuit filed by Corey Toole against Sgt. Aaron Zorn and other officers, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Sunday.
In the lawsuit, Toole said he was participating in a protest near downtown Atlanta in 2014 following a grand jury’s decision not to indict the officer accused of shooting and killing 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
Toole argues he was targeted by officers for filming them after they ordered protesters to clear the street. Zorn cited Toole for disorderly conduct for remaining in the street, but Toole contends he was on the sidewalk when Zorn violently threw him into the road, gashing his face. In its decision this week, the court said if it’s found that Toole was on the sidewalk at the time, then officers had no cause to arrest him.
Attorneys for the city of Atlanta didn’t respond to requests for comment, the news outlet reported.
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