Georgia, Atlanta NAACP demand the FBI investigate the Atlanta Police Department

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta Now News at 10) — The state and local NAACP branches are demanding federal law enforcement investigate the Atlanta Police Department, saying APD has demonstrated racist patterns and practices of killing Black men.

Four months after Atlanta police shot and killed Nygil Cullins, 22, his family says the grief is unbearable.

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“What happened? Can you at least give us an update? Can you give us answers? Can you give us something,” said his mother, Dr. Mya Speller Cullins.

“They took him away from me. I used to talk to Nygil every day,” said Demietrice Brown, his grandmother.

“Look at how it’s affecting this family. Our family. Look at how it’s affecting us,” said Shekirra Virgo, Cullins’s aunt.

On May 18, 2022, police responded to a 911 call at Fogo de Chao Restaurant on Piedmont Road about an unruly customer. They say Cullins resisted and fired a gun at officers, and a bullet injured a security guard. Police then shot Cullins, and he died at the scene. His family says he was having a mental health crisis.

“He was the block captain, he was a photographer, he had dreams and visions, despite his mental health disorder,” said Speller Cullins.

“It’s hard to tell his young siblings what happened. They’re confused, and we need answers immediately,” said his father, Quinten Cullins.

“We convened this press conference to request that the Department of Justice open a patterns and practices investigation into the Atlanta Police Department,” said Georgia NAACP President Gerald Griggs.

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The Georgia and Atlanta NAACP both say there’s a pattern of police officers killing black men, referencing 97 cases of police involved shootings they say happened in Fulton County alone since 2015.

This comes after prosecutor Pete Skandalakis dismissed the charges against the officers involved in the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks.

“Over and over again, they go and get Pete Skandalakis to try to justify unjustifiable behavior,” said Atlanta NAACP President Richard Rose.

“It’s bigger than Rayshard Brooks. It’s bigger than Nygil Cullins. It’s bigger than Oscar Cain. It’s bigger than Caine Rogers. It’s bigger than Jamarion Robinson. It’s bigger than Deondre Phillips,” said Griggs.

He cited the Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery cases, saying once the FBI got involved, justice was served. They’re asking elected officials and law enforcement to meet with the families that are still looking for justice and to push for police reform.

“Add trained sociologists and mental health professionals to every police force,” said Rose.

“I don’t want to hear ‘We back the blue.’ I don’t want to hear it’s about Black Lives Matter. It’s about the law mattering,” Griggs said, adding the cases should go before a grand jury.

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APD says it’s aware of the concerns but didn’t say how it will respond. The FBI referred us to the Department of Justice, and there was no immediate response on whether it will launch an investigation.