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Atlanta police release bodycam video of immigration protest after dragging incident

ATLANTA — All Out Atlanta posted a protest montage on its social media pages. They said it shows Atlanta police assaulting protesters on July 4.

The protesters claimed they were following commands and police escalated the scene.

Atlanta police released new body camera video they claim shows protesters being violent and unresponsive to orders to get out of the street.

"That's a lie. That's an absolute lie. If that's the case, why did they need to drag people from off the sidewalk to beat them up?" asked Annabelle Mitchell.

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Mitchell was the one seen in the cellphone video being dragged into the street by an officer. Mitchell spoke exclusively with Channel 2 Action News. 

"It hurts, but there are people hurting way more in this country's detention facilities," Mitchell said.

The Atlanta Police Department is defending the officers' response. They claim the video spreading on social media has been edited to leave out unlawful actions of those arrested.

"Those individuals began to throw objects at our patrol vehicles, kick our patrol vehicles. We had one or more individuals set off smoke bombs in the area, adding to our safety concerns," Major Darin Schierbaum said.

Still, even with the addition of police video, protestors claim officers escalated the encounter.

"There was no need for that level of force. There weren't that many of us, and all of the sudden people were being thrown to the ground and dragged across the street," said protester Miranda James.

Police claim the group is made up of anti-police anarchists. Protestors believe the show of force was to intimidate them.

"People should be taking action every day until this ends and doing everything they can whether they're doing it alone or standing with thousands," protester Ellenina Iacobucci said.

Six people were taken into custody for disorderly conduct, pedestrian in roadway and obstruction charges.