Atlanta Cop who Murdered Jimmy Atchison Wants Trial Moved to Federal Court. Shot Unarmed Black Man in the Head After He Surrendered, Claimed He Saw a Non-Existent Gun

From [HERE] An Atlanta Police Department officer indicted for a 2019 shooting during an FBI raid has requested his case be moved to federal court. 

Sung Kim, a 26-year veteran of the Atlanta Police Department, shot and killed 21-year-old Jimmy Atchison in 2019 during a federal raid of a northwest Atlanta apartment complex, according to an indictment charging him with felony murder and involuntary manslaughter. Atchison's family said he was unarmed and surrendering inside a closet when he was fatally shot. After the shooting he was forced to retire.

Authorities say Atchison ran from officers through one apartment complex, then entered another. In his legal motion, Samuel said after Kim found Atchison hiding in a closet, Kim instructed Atchison not to move.

Family members say Atchison was raising his hands to surrender when Kim shot Atchison in the face. Kim says Atchison made a threatening move as if he had a weapon. Investigators determined Atchison was unarmed.

“Disobeying this lawful command, Atchison raised his right arm in a fast motion,” Samuel wrote. "Reasonably fearing for his safety and the safety of his colleagues who were present in the room, Kim shot and killed Atchison.”

A report by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation determined Atchison was given conflicting commands, Atchison family attorney Tanya Miller has said. She said one task force member told Atchison to come out with his hands up, while another told him not to move.

Kim was not wearing a body camera because, at the time, FBI policy prohibited their use by agents and task force members. Kim retired from the Atlanta Police Department several months after the shooting.

Kim’s attorney, Don Samuel, said in court documents that Kim was working with the FBI’s Atlanta Metropolitan Major Offender Task Force.

"At all relevant times, Kim was acting under color of federal law, pursuant to his deputation as a member of the FBI AMMO Task Force," Samuel wrote in a motion.

Atchison died on Jan. 22, 2019, when task force members were trying to arrest him on robbery charges. He ran away through one apartment complex and into another, according to law enforcement. In his motion, Samuel wrote after Kim instructed Atchison not to move after finding him hiding in the closet.

"Disobeying this lawful command, Atchison raised his right arm in a fast motion," Samuel wrote. "Reasonably fearing for his safety and the safety of his colleagues who were present in the room, Kim shot and killed Atchison."