Atlanta City Council member says they’re not ‘thrilled’ about approval of $2M settlement for 2 students

The Atlanta City Council voted Monday to approve a $2 million settlement for two college students who were pulled from their car and tased during a shooting. George Floyd Demonstration in 2020.

“It came with great dismay and bitterness,” said Michael, an Atlanta City Council member. Julien Bond.

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But the saga of the incident involving Atlanta police and Morehouse and Spelman students is now over. Atlanta City Council members approved the settlement, with one member voting against it.

“The board members weren’t very enthusiastic about it, but this ends the litigation, we’ve put an end to the matter. They were originally asking for about $14 million to $15 million and it was negotiated down,” Bond said.

Messiah Young and Taniyah Pilgrim will receive a total of $2 million after a body camera captured the couple driving near a George Floyd protest in 2020.

The APD said they wanted Young to move his car out of traffic, and a special prosecutor said Young moved the car while an officer leaned out his window. That’s when an officer used a Taser on Young and several officers removed Young and Pilgrim from the car.

As a result, six police officers were charged, but the charges were dropped.

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Councilman Bond said it was important to note that the officers had since been cleared of any wrongdoing in the resolution approving the settlement.

“Our officers were exonerated because they followed their training and procedures during the incident,” Bond said. “Approving this agreement was in no way an indictment of our police department, and we wanted to be clear on that.”

Lawyers for Young and Pilgrim declined to speak to Channel 2’s Candace McCowan after the regulation was approved.

The agreement provides that each student will receive $1 million.

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