Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe who killed Rayshard Brooks fired, 2nd cop, Devin Brosnan re-assigned as new bodycam video released shows victim being amiable.
Newly released bodycam video has been released showing Atlanta police shooting victim Rayshard Brooks having an amiable chat with cops about his daughter’s birthday just moments before he was gunned down as he tried to escape arrest.
Brooks, 27, slurred his words as he spoke to lead officer Garrett Rolfe and his colleague, Devin Brosnan, outside a Wendy’s Drive Through, Friday night — one later torched in protests over the deadly police arrest.
‘I just had a few drinks, that’s it … It was my daughter’s birthday,’ Brooks told Rolfe, adding that he had been ‘intent to have a good time’.
‘I can walk home. I just don’t want to be in violation of anything,” he told them in the calm, friendly-sounding exchange, hoping to avoid a drunk-driving arrest. ‘I don’t wanna refuse anything,’ the man is heard saying in the video.
— ysell43 (@ysell43) June 14, 2020
Were cops justified in using lethal force?
Commentators on social media pointed out footage showing Officer Garrett Rolfe and Officer Devin Brosan behaving respectfully and doing everything they were supposed to do.
According to reports Rayshard Brooks fell asleep in a Wendy’s parking lot on Friday night after having earlier attended a party where he’d been drinking.
Police had been called after reports of the sleeping man’s vehicle blocking other vehicles. Matters devolved after Rayshard failed a breathalyzer test as cops attempted to arrest Brooks, who resisted.
The interaction only turned violent as Brooks struggled to break free, having grabbed at one of the officers’ taser and pointing it at officers as he fled.
De-escalating protocol
‘Drop the Taser! Stop fighting!’ the officers shouted at Brooks, who was seen in other footage appearing to fire the Taser as he tried to run away.
A series of gunshots then rang out — with a short pause before onlookers immediately expressed outrage at the deadly shooting of a black man by white cops.
‘You murderer! what the f–k!’ one man could be heard shouting amid unintelligible screaming and shouting. Adding: ‘You f—ing shoot him? That’s totally unnecessary,’ someone shouted at the officers, while another man said, ‘Man, that’s messed up.’
Atlanta cop who killed Rayshard Brooks fired, 2nd cop re-assigned
The incident led to wide debate on social media as to whether the police officer’s life were really ever in danger, with Brooks at one point firing off the Taser as he fled, while many asked why police felt compelled to resort to gunfire to stop the fleeing man.
Rolfe — a seven year veteran of the force — was fired and Brosnan, who joined in September 2018, was put on administrative leave, officials confirmed late Saturday.
It followed calls from Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who had insisted the shooting was not a ‘justified use of deadly force.’
The officers’ boss, Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields, also resigned over the fatal incident, citing a ‘deep and abiding love for this City and this department.’
Atlanta Police Union representative Ken Allen told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that rank and file was ‘devastated’ by Rolfe’s firing and demoralized at losing Shields’ leadership.
He called Rolfe — who recently had nine-hours of use-of-force training — an ‘exceptional officer’ who followed proper procedure in his handling of Brooks’ attempted arrest.
The killing sparked a new wave of protests in Atlanta, where demonstrations following the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis had largely simmered down.
The Wendy’s restaurant outside which Brooks was fatally shot was set ablaze Saturday night. Other demonstrators marched onto Interstate-75, stopping traffic, before police used squad cars to hold them back.
