From Haro v. Bryant, decided today by Judge J.P. Boulee (N.D. Ga.):
On June 4, 2020, Plaintiff was allegedly protesting police brutality and the use of excessive force when the Atlanta Police Department ("APD") arrested him for a curfew violation. During the arrest, Plaintiff spit on a Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") officer, and as a result, he was additionally charged with battery on a police officer.
Approximately ten weeks later, in August 2020, Defendant—the former chief of the APD—created a joint task force with the FBI, the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia and others named "Operation Phoenix." Operation Phoenix was established to address the rise in violent crime in Atlanta during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On October 29, 2020, Defendant and the City of Atlanta co-hosted a press conference and contemporaneously co-published a press release to announce Operation Phoenix, identify its early results and arrests and explain the dramatic effect those arrests had on reducing violence crime. The press release, which was distributed to those at the press conference and widely republished, was headlined, "FBI Announces Results of Operation Phoenix." The press release stated, in material part, as follows:
FBI Special Agent in Charge Chris Hacker, Interim Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant, and U.S. Attorney Byung J. "Bjay" Pak announce that twelve of Atlanta's most violent offenders are being charged as a result of Operation Phoenix, a sustained and coordinated law enforcement initiative to fight violent crime in the City of Atlanta.
The press release went on to state that:
Operation Phoenix began on August 18, 2020 in an effort to identify, investigate, and prosecute those individuals deemed the most dangerous to the citizens of this city. Federal law enforcement agencies worked in conjunction with local and state law enforcement officials to identify offenders.
Notably, the press release identified Plaintiff as one of the twelve violent individuals arrested as part of Operation Phoenix. Plaintiff's photo was also included in the press release.
Defendant, along with representatives from the other agencies involved in Operation Phoenix, spoke at the press conference, which lasted approximately twenty-five minutes. Defendant explained at the press conference that those arrested in conjunction with Operation Phoenix "were repeat violent offenders." Defendant further noted, among other things, that "[t]here was some nexus with them and violence, and we deemed them to be responsible for some of the most violent crimes in the City of Atlanta. This included guns, gang affiliations, gun trafficking, and so on."
Plaintiff contends that he is neither a violent criminal nor associated with any gang. Consequently, Plaintiff asserts that Defendant defamed him by implying in the press release and press conference that he is one of the most dangerous violent criminals in Atlanta….
