Atlanta Cop Who Killed Rayshard Brooks Has Been Fired
Garrett Rolfe, the police officer who killed Rayshard Brooks, was fired on Saturday (June 13), police spokesman Carlos Campos said in a statement, according to CNN. A second officer, Devin Bronsan, involved in the killing was placed on administrative duty.
Rolfe was hired in 2013 and the Atlanta Police Department boasted on Facebook about his record-setting DUI arrests just last year.
"APD Proud: Congratulations to the Atlanta Police Department's High Intensity Traffic Team Unit for their recognition during the 15th Annual Mothers Against Drunk Driving Golden Shield Honors," the post says. "Office Brian Polke and Office Garrett Rolfe were awarded silver pins for making between 50 to 99 Driving Under The Influence arrests in the past year."
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"This situation is tragically classic," said Cornell William Brooks, the former president of the NAACP. "This video, this police homicide occurs in the wake of Ahmaud Arbery, occurs in the wake of Philando Castile, George Floyd, Tamir Rice, Breonna Taylor and so many others. So we've reached this point where the people have simply experienced too much."
Brooks was killed on Friday night, after police responded to a call about a man sleeping in a parked vehicle in a Wendy's drive-through lane in Atlanta, causing other customers to drive around it, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.
According to bodycam video, when police arrived, Brooks politely answered officers' questions, admitted to drinking and asked to walk home. Police escalated the situation by attempting to arrest and detain him.
A cell phone video from a witness captured a struggle between two officers and Brooks. Brooks eventually seems to break free and starts running away. According to the ongoing GBI investigation (via Newsweek), Brooks took the taser away from the officers before he ran away, and pointed it at them from a distance as he ran.
Surveillance video provided by the GBI shows him running from the officers before falling to the ground. He was shot and taken to the hospital, where he died, the GBI says. An officer was treated for an injury and released.
It showed that before Brooks was shot, an officer had patted him down and found he was unarmed.
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced on Saturday night (June 13) that Erika Shields, the police chief of the Atlanta Police Department had resigned at her request.
"I do not believe that this was a justified use of deadly force and have called for the immediate termination of the officer," Bottoms said.]
"For more than two decades, I have served alongside some of the finest men and women in the Atlanta Police Department. Out of a deep and abiding love for this City and this department, I offered to step aside as police chief," Shields said, according to Alive 11.
"APD has my full support, and Mayor Bottoms has my support on the future direction of this department. I have faith in the Mayor, and it is time for the city to move forward and build trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve."
