College students Taniyah Pilgrim and Messiah Young filed a lawsuit against the city of Atlanta, the Atlanta police department, and Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms for being tased and assaulted during the summer 2020 protests.
In the wake of the firing of the two Atlanta police officers who violently arrested them, two college students are speaking out. As previously reported Messiah Young, a Morehouse College student, and Taniyah Pilgrim, a Spelman College student, were seen on video being manhandled by authorities after 9 p.m. Saturday night. The couple was driving when police SLASHED THEIR TIRES, broke the windows of their car, dragged them out, and tased them. Taniyah and Messiah spoke out during a press conference and said that they feared for their lives as cops told them they were going to kill them. "This is the most traumatic thing that has ever happened and has ever happened again in my life, I’m very shaken up I don’t even know how to act what to do,” said Pilgrim.“I just can't stop thinking about if cameras weren't there or if they went a little bit further.”
This is insane. The violent arrest and tazing of two HBCU students has gone viral and the public is demanding answers. Local Atlanta news captured footage of Messiah Young and Taniyah Pilgrim being manhandled by authorities after 9 p.m. Saturday night. Messiah, a Morehouse college student, and Taniyah, a Spelman student, were driving when police broke the windows of their car, dragged them out, and tazed them. Witnesses also said police slashed the vehicle's tires. It's unclear if authorities were "enforcing the city-wide curfew" and/or just continuing to brutalize black bodies per the usual.