Atlanta police have released bodycam footage showing the arrest of Douglas County Probate Judge Christina Peterson after she allegedly struck an officer outside a nightclub on Thursday.
The Atlanta police officer was working an approved extra job at the Red Martini Restaurant and Lounge when he heard a commotion around 3:18 a.m. and went to investigate, the department said.
The officer found security escorting a woman out of the venue and tried to de-escalate the situation when a woman, later identified as 38-year-old Peterson, “rushed toward the commotion and immediately started screaming at the security guard and the officer,” according to police.
Peterson is seen on the officer’s body camera pushing the officer in the chest and yelling, “Let her f—ing go.”
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Police said Peterson “kept swiping his hands away as he attempted to assist the female being escorted out” and allegedly pushed the officer in the chest a second time before being placed into custody.
Peterson allegedly refused to cooperate with the officer as he tried to learn her identity.
Bodycam footage shows Peterson cursing at an officer while in custody. She can be heard saying, “Don’t f—-ng touch me,” and “Shut the f— up.” She is also seen sitting in the back of a police car while in handcuffs.
Once police learned her identity, the officer secured arrest warrants for simple battery against a police officer and obstruction of law enforcement officer.
Peterson was then taken to the Fulton County Jail for processing and taken into their custody without incident.
Peterson is being represented by lawyer and Fulton County Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr., who held a press conference alongside Peterson on Friday about the incident.
Arrington said Peterson was helping defend a woman who was being attacked by an unknown man outside the lounge when the incident with the officer occurred.
The woman, Alexandria Love, described the incident during the press conference and claimed that Peterson tried to help her.
“He viciously attacked me,” Love said of the unknown man, “punched me in my face and Judge Peterson was the only one to help me.”
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Arrington called on the lounge to release its surveillance footage, saying that based on eyewitnesses and video, Peterson should never have been arrested.
Peterson has made headlines in the past after becoming a judge in 2020.
A Judicial Qualifications Commission panel found Peterson guilty of “systemic incompetence” in April and recommended that she be removed from office, FOX5 Atlanta reported.
While investigating Peterson’s alleged misconduct, the panel found that she had failed to do her job on multiple occasions, ignored courthouse rules, abused courthouse personnel and posted inappropriately on social media, the station reported.
Peterson’s fate as a judge rests with the Georgia Supreme Court, which will weigh in on the panel’s recommendation at an unspecified date.
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