Fired police officers sue Atlanta mayor and police chief

This undated photo distributed by the Atlanta Police Department shows Ivory Streeter, left, and Mark Gardner, who were both fired over accusations of the use of excessive force during the arrest of two college students during protests in Atlanta. (Atlanta Police Department)

Two Atlanta police officers who were fired after using their Tasers on two college students have filed a lawsuit in an effort to regain their jobs, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

In their lawsuit, Ivory Streeter and Mark Gardner describe their use of force as lawful and claim they were fired without a proper investigation. The suit is filed against Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields and Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.

“Petitioners have suffered irreparable injury to their personal and professional reputations as a result of their unlawful dismissal,” the suit states.

Spelman College student Taniyah Pilgrim, 20, and Morehouse College student Messiah Young, 22, were stopped in a car after the city’s 9 p.m. curfew by the two officers on May 30. In body cam footage, the officers use a club to smash open the driver’s side window and then Tased and threw the two to the ground.

Young suffered a fractured arm and a cut that required 20 stitches and spent a night in jail. Pilgrim spent several hours in a police car before she was released without explanation.

Mayor Bottoms announced the officers were fired on May 31. Days later, criminal charges were announced against Streeter, Gardner and four other officers involved in the incident.

“We created chaos and we escalated a low-level encounter into a space where we introduced violence,” Chief Shields wrote in a memo to the department. “Once this occurs, we need to own it.”

In an interview, defense attorney Lance LoRusso said the firings were politically motivated and Tasers should not be classified as deadly weapons.

A 2017 investigation found that more than 1,150 people were killed by electrical shock from Tasers and stun guns used by U.S. law enforcement officers.