A Chicago police officer who hit an activist, ageing around 18-years-old during a disorderly demonstration in the city’s 2020 financial district has resigned from the force.
After the Civilian Office of Police Accountability in Chicago determined that Officer Nicholas Jovanovich had used excessive and unjustified force on activist Miracle Boyd, he was in danger of being fired. The officer also submitted a bogus police report claiming that when he punched the activist, who was 18 at the time, he was acting in self-defence.
The 17-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department has now resigned rather than allow the Chicago Police Board to decide his future.
Jovanovich’s resignation, which will take effect in April 2022, was verified by a Chicago police spokesman, who declined to comment on the officer’s choice.
The police accountability agency’s investigation revealed that on July 17, 2020, at a rally in Grant Park demanding the removal of a Christopher Columbus statue, Jovanovich and his partner attempted to prevent Boyd from recording the arrest of another protester.
At first, the offices blocked Boyd’s way, as per to the report from the agency, as well as then “Jovanovich extended his left arm and forcefully struck [Boyd’s] cell phone from her hand, causing the phone to hit her face and knock out one of her front teeth.”
As per the reports, Jovanovich shared the information with the city investigators that protesters “throwing objects such as rocks, bricks, frozen cans, and frozen water bottles at the officers” put him in a “hypervigilant state.”
In that state, the officer approached Boyd as she filmed a different group of officers with her cell phone. He told the investigators he believed the 18-year-old was going to hit officers with her cell phone, so he swung his hand toward hers to knock the phone out of her hand.
