The North Miami police commander involved in the controversial shooting of an unarmed man wants his job back. Emile Hollant spoke publicly for the first time and exclusively to NBC 6 Thursday.
Charles Kinsey, a black behavioral therapist, was lying on his back when he was shot in the leg by the Jonathan Aledda on July 18, 2016. Video of the shooting went viral and captured the nation's attention.
Commander Emile Hollant was in charge of the scene. One of the radio transmissions released in the investigation revealed that Hollant told dispatch Kinsey was armed. He was suspended without pay after Councilman Scott Galvin said Hollant violated public trust.
Now, Hollant has put the City of North Miami on notice that he will take them to court to get his old job back. His attorney says an official report shows the commander did nothing wrong.
NBC 6 obtained the State Attorney's findings on Hollant and it turns out that Hollant went to his patrol unit to get his binoculars when the shot rang out. The report says: "Commander Hollant was thus, not physically present when Officer Aledda fired his weapon nor did he witness the actual shooting. We conclude that Commander Hollant did not lie, and that there was no intent by Commander Hollant to mislead or obstruct investigators or command staff officers regarding his involvement in the police shooting."
The finding is the reason why Hollant is willing to sue now to return to uniform.
“I have served the community for the last 17 years and I really want to go back to work. But, I have to go through this process. But, I can't talk. As much as I would like to talk to you about this, I can't,” said Hollant.
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His attorney is Michael Joseph, Esq.
“I think they jumped the gun and they needed somebody to fall and for a lack of a better way of saying it, the closest thing to an excuse,” said Joseph.
Hollant’s attorney says the police commander has “been defamed.”
“You're a good cop. You love your community and all of a sudden the next day you've been branded as some bad example dirty cop,” said Joseph.
Councilman Galvin told NBC 6 Thursday that another report from the state attorney still has to be completed.
“One is still on going and that's the one that's going to be key in deciding what to do next,” said Galvin.
The City of North Miami said Thursday Hollant is being paid while on leave now and that it hasn't completed its investigation into his actions that day to see if any of the city's rules were violated. It’s also waiting on the State Attorney to finish its report into the entire matter, not just Hollant.
