Charges dropped against Philadelphia police officer accused of hitting Temple student during George Floyd protest

Charges against a Philadelphia police officer who was arrested for beating a Temple University student with a baton at a George Floyd protest over the summer have been dismissed.

Police Inspector Joseph Bologna Jr. had been facing misdemeanor charges of simple assault, reckless endangerment and possession of an instrument of crime, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. A municipal court judge concluded on Friday however, the video taken of the officer’s confrontation with Evan Gorski was not enough evidence to prove the officer committed a crime.

“This is a great day for Inspector Bologna who is an outstanding, dedicated public servant who has risked his life for strangers for a long time,” his attorney, Brian McMonagle, told ABC 6.

Bologna’s case, initially filed in June, sparked widespread controversy at the time — while his colleagues and supporters have said he was only doing his job, critics have fiercely condemned the use of force.

Gorski, a Temple engineering student, was among hundreds of thousands of people all over the nation who took to the streets in wake of the death of George Floyd. The 46-year-old Minneapolis man died on Memorial Day after a police officer knelt down on his neck for an extended period of time.

Gorski was arrested during one of the June protests at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and held for more than 40 hours on allegations that he had assaulted a police officer. He was released and the charges against him dropped after video of Bologna repeatedly striking him with a police baton went viral online.

District Attorney Larry Krasner at the time said the assault left the college student with “serious bodily injury, including a large head wound that required treatment in a hospital while under arrest, including approximately 10 staples and approximately 10 sutures.”

Krasner has already expressed his intentions to appeal the decision.

“Justice must be applied equally and in an evenhanded manner,” he said. “No one is above the law. We fully intend to pursue this case to a just conclusion.”