Woman Suffers Broken Clavicle After Atlanta Police Officer Body Slams Her

A police officer caught on camera body slamming a woman to the ground during protests in Atlanta on May 29 is in the hot seat.

The video, taken by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, shows a police officer pulling away a black woman. He then grabs the woman from behind and slams her to the ground before lifting her by her arm.

Speaking about the incident, police spokesman Carlos Campos said it took place near Lenox Square mall in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. The officer stopped a vehicle after a woman passenger attempted to remove a barricade blocking the road. The woman, later identified as Amber Jackson , refused to exit the vehicle. When the officer tried to get Jackson out of the vehicle, she resisted. The officer then slammed her to the ground while attempting to handcuff her.

Jackson’s lawyer Mawuli Davis, Co-founder of the Davis Bozeman Law Firm, said his client was leaving the area when she noticed that they had blocked all the exits. Jackson got out of the vehicle to move a barricade. When Jackson got back into the vehicle, that’s when the police officer pulled her out. Davis said Jackson suffered a broken clavicle during the incident.

Davis and his client want the police officer not only fired, but prosecuted.

"I just think it's important for people to understand the ramifications of this kind of violence against people, especially when they have not violated the law. Even if you violate the law there's a way to arrest someone without injury. That was absolutely excessive. She weighs about 130 pounds. To lift her up and body slam her like that is just, I mean, it was as if she had just robbed a bank or something. It makes no sense,” Davis told CNN.

Speaking about the incident, Jackson said, “I have never been arrested [before]… Today I stand in pain for all the victims of police brutality.”

Meanwhile, recalling the incident, Andre Williams, her fiancé, said, “They took my fiancé, and they pinned me against a car [while] they slammed her. Then they put us in the car and they made us sit. They made her sit with a broken shoulder in handcuffs.”

Georgia NAACP President James Woodall told CNN, “That level of police brutality and excessive use of force continues to terrorize our people. And gratefully we have Ms. Jackson here today, but unfortunately, for way too many people that ends up in their deaths.” He is calling for the resignation of Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields over the incident.

Ms. Jackson received a citation for disorderly conduct.