Atlanta Police Officer Cleared of Criminal Charges in Death During Arrest Operation by Federal Judge

A former Atlanta police officer had criminal charges against him dismissed by a federal judge regarding the death of Jimmy Atchison. The judge ruled that Sung Kim’s actions leading to the shooting of the 21-year-old Black man during an arrest were considered to be self-defense. 

The U.S. District Judge, Michael Brown, expressed in his ruling on Tuesday that the evidence supporting self-defense was so clear that it was puzzling why Georgia had initially brought forth these charges and continued with them for over two and a half years. 

Kim had been indicted in December 2022 on allegations such as involuntary manslaughter, felony murder, and aggravated assault following the 2019 killing of Atchison, who was the target of an arrest warrant related to armed robbery. 

Brown’s ruling said Kim was a member of the FBI Atlanta Violent Crime Task Force and that Atchison fled from law enforcement when they showed up to take him into custody at an apartment complex in January that year. 

Jimmy Hill, father of Jimmy Atchison, is seen holding a poster on March 8, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia.  (Megan Varner/Getty Images)

Brown ultimately dismissed the charges on the basis of Supremacy Clause immunity and self-defense immunity. 

“It is hard to celebrate when a young man died; but there is no doubt that the decision of the Fulton County DA’s office to compound the tragedy by prosecuting Sung Kim was an inexcusable abuse of prosecutorial discretion,” Kim’s attorney, Don Samuel, told WSB-TV following the ruling. “Judge Brown’s decision was unambiguous: Sung Kim’s acted in self-defense.” 

When Kim was indicted in 2022, his father Jimmy Hill said “This is what we have been praying for, ever since that day Jimmy was taken from us.”  

“We have had marches, meetings, everything you can think of, to beg Fulton County to take action. I told the world I would never give up on justice for my son — no matter how long it took,” he added at the time, according to the Associated Press. 

Jimmy Hill attends Brothas and Brews: Black Men’s Town Hall sponsored by Team Harris-Walz and the Democratic Party of Georgia at Atlantucky Brewing on Oct. 11, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. Hill holds signs in memory of Jaylin McKenzie, who was killed by Memphis police officer in 2022, and his son Jimmy Atchison, who was shot and killed by an Atlanta police officer in 2019.  (Julia Beverly/Getty Images)

Kim retired from the Atlanta Police Department months after the fatal shooting, WSB-TV reported. In March, his legal team sought to dismiss the charges, according to Fox5 Atlanta.