A white former Georgia cop who evaded a murder conviction but not aggravated assault charges was sentenced to 12 years in prison in the shooting death of Black Afghanistan War veteran Anthony Hill.
Judge LaTisha Dear Jackson, a Black woman, handed down the sentence Friday and included eight years of probation.
She also said Olsen is never allowed to work in law enforcement, to possess a firearm or profit from anything related to the case, the news outlet reported.
Still, the judge shared comforting words with Olsen, according to PIX 11.
“Many might have thought you were stoic and void of emotion,” she said. “From the time opening statements started, I saw the tears that you’ve had. I saw how you replayed March 9, 2015, in your head.”
Several social media users advocated for a harsher sentence for Olsen than ex-Dallas cop Amber Guyger got after she shot and killed PwC associate Botham Jean in his own home and claimed she thought she was in her unit.
Guyger was sentenced to 10 years in prison Oct. 2, and she gets the possibility of parole after serving five years.
Journalist Clay Cane shared a tweet Oct. 24 from state Rep. Renitta Shannon calling for justice before the sentence was revealed.
“Anthony Hill, a Black Air Force veteran, was shot & killed by Officer Robert Olsen on 3/9/2015. He was unarmed. Olsen was convicted & will be sentenced Nov 1 – he could get 35 yrs to life. Spread the word about this story. We don’t want a light sentence – like AmberGuyger,” Cane said in the tweet.
Related: Georgia Ex-Cop Found Not Guilty of Murder in Shooting Death of Naked Black Veteran
Olsen shot Hill while responding to a domestic disturbance call about a possibly mentally disturbed individual wandering around naked March 9, 2015, at the Heights at Chamblee apartments in DeKalb County, a suburb of Atlanta, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Olsen, 57, claimed Hill, who was naked at the time, lunged toward him, prompting him to shoot the Air Force veteran.
A jury composed of seven women and five men convicted Olsen Oct. 14 of two counts of violation of oath of office, one count each of aggravated assault and making a false statement.
Juror 31, the only Black man on the jury of five white people and four Black women, said he wanted to convict Olsen on all six charges but ultimately had to compromise, according to local news outlets.
“A naked man, nude, doesn’t pose a threat to a trained, professional cop,” he said. “But some people didn’t find that justifiable.”
Hill’s mother, Carolyn Giummo, told local media, “Even if I didn’t get what I wanted — I wanted the maximum — some time is better than no time.”
DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston told WSB Radio that prosecutors believe Olsen had non-lethal options at his disposal and this is not an indictment of all police officers.
“Today we say Tony Hill’s name with respect, because his life mattered,” she said.
