Photo: Getty Images
A Georgia police officer was fired after body camera footage showed him punching an unarmed Black man who wasn't resisting arrest, per WSB-TV.
Video shows the August 2023 encounter between now-former officer Nicholas Malagon and Montavious Smith near the Six Flags Over Georgia parking lot.
Police arrived at the scene following reports that people were pointing guns at each other near the amusement park.
In the body camera footage, officers can be seen approaching Smith as he was lying facedown on the ground. One officer, who was later identified as Malagon, pulled Smith up before pushing him back down to the ground and punching him several times. Other officers continued to restrain Smith forcefully.
“Please stop!” Smith yelled. “I’m underage! Please don’t kill me!”
Smith asked the officers why they punched him to which one responded, “Because you didn’t listen.”
After the man apologized, an officer said, “Yeah, listen next time!”
Major Damon Ballard confirmed that Smith was trying to surrender as he was beaten by police.
An investigation was launched into the incident after a police supervisor discovered the beating on body camera footage last year.
Malagon was terminated for violating department policy with unreasonable use of force. A second officer, Noah Maack, was also fired for stating the officers "tackled" Smith in an incident report, which an internal affairs commander said wasn’t the case.
A grand jury is set to review the case to determine whether criminal charges will be filed against police later this year.
Watch the body camera footage here.
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