Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 28

Thread: Rayshard Brooks, (27) was shot and killed by Atlanta Police

  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Posts
    4,558
    Rep Power
    0

    Rayshard Brooks, (27) was shot and killed by Atlanta Police

    https://www.11alive.com/article/news...3-4d6a4c140784

    ATLANTA ? An Atlanta man was shot and killed in a confrontation with police at the Wendy's restaurant on University Avenue on Friday night.

    Rayshard Brooks, 27, was killed after police said he pointed a police taser at one of the officers as he was running away from them. It happened at around 10:30 p.m. on June 12.

    As a result of the shooting, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms called for the termination of the officer involved in the shooting. The mayor said Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields also agreed to step down. Atlanta Police Deputy Chief Rodney Bryant will serve as the interim chief. Shields will continue in a role "to be determined." A search will begin for a new chief in Atlanta as well.

    Soon after the shooting, a crowd gathered at the scene to protest the fatal shooting.

    The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is leading the investigation. GBI Director Vic Reynolds held a press conference Saturday afternoon which detailed elements of the investigation and the shooting.

    Police were initially called to the Wendy's around 10:33 p.m. after a complaint about a man parked in the drive-thru asleep, forcing other vehicles to drive around him, according to the GBI's preliminary report.

    According to Reynolds, officers administered a field sobriety test on the man, later identified as Brooks. After he failed, they attempted to take him into custody.

    During the attempted arrest, he said, Brooks resisted and a struggle began. The arresting officer pulled out a Taser.

    Witnesses indicated that Brooks grabbed the Taser from the officer.

    According to Atlanta Assistant Police Chief Timothy Peek, a second officer got involved and also attempted to tase Brooks.

    Reynolds said that surveillance video from the Wendy's "very clearly" showed that Brooks was running away while carrying the Taser he had taken from one of the officers

    According to Reynolds, Brooks appeared to turn and point the Taser over his shoulder toward the officers.

    At that point, he said, one of the officers drew his service revolver and shot Brooks.

    "It does appear in the video that he is fleeing from the Atlanta police officers, and as he's fleeing, he turns back over his shoulder with, what appears to the naked eye to be this Taser that witnesses told us they saw that belonged to one of the officers and as he turned, one of the Atlanta officers reached down to get his service weapon, and as he gets his weapon, Mr. Brooks turns his body away from him -- I presume to flee," Reynolds said. "It looks like that's when the discharge happens."

    Brooks was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital and, according to the GBI, he died during surgery. His family released this picture to 11Alive.

    Following the incident, the two officers involved in the shooting were removed from duty pending the outcome of the investigation.

    Atlanta District three City Councilman Antonio Brown was at the scene during a portion of the investigation. He told 11Alive News that a number of people had called him shortly after the incident occurred. Brown said that he felt it necessary to come to the scene to see for himself what was going on.

    According to police, the protest at the scene has remained peaceful and they said they understand the concern of those who are there.

    Councilman Brown told 11Alive News that he felt the peaceful protest was a reflection of the discomfort that people have with the police during this time.

    "This is a reflection of what is truly transpiring in our country, not just the city of Atlanta," Brown said.

    He said that the way information is being disseminated is a major problem.

    "I was informed (initially) that there was a body that's still here and that the body was never transported," Brown said. "After the incident, the individual involved in the altercation with the local police was immediately transported to the hospital."

    Late Saturday morning, Brown told 11Alive News that he had spoken to Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields about the shooting and how it had occurred.


    Brown said that Chief Shields told him that Brown had been shot in the back and the buttocks.

    In a statement early Saturday afternoon, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said that his office has already launched its own independent investigation of the shooting incident.

    "Members of the Fulton County District Attorney's Office were on scene shortly after the shooting, and we have been investigative sessions ever since to identify all of the facts and circumstances surrounding the incident," Howard said in the statement. "We are asking anyone who saw the incident to call the Fulton County District Attorney's Office Tip Line at 404-612-4903."

    Some family members of Brooks gathered outside the restaurant Saturday afternoon as protesters stopped traffic on the street out front with calls of "No Justice, No Peace."

    One of Rayshard Brooks' cousins spoke on behalf of his family outside the restaurant. He declined to give his name, saying only that he should be known as "Rayshard Brooks."


    "That's my name, and that should be every black man's name here in our city," he said.

    He was very emotional as he spoke to reporters.

    "I don't know how to do this, because I never knew I was going to have to do this. I watched this on the internet, from the whole George Floyd situation to coming together like we're doing, and this whole thing landed on my doorstep," he said. "I thought Atlanta was higher than that; I thought we were bigger than that."

    His voice cracked as he held one of his sons.

    "I just want to make enough noise that they investigate this situation. Don't let Rayshard die in vain like that," he said. "We've watched this happen for so many years, these young black boys dying in vain. I just don't want that to continue."

    Atlanta City Councilperson Joyce Shepard spoke to protesters at the restaurant Saturday afternoon, telling them that in her opinion, the officers involved "got to go."

    "He ran away from the police officers," Shepard told the crowd. "Running away from police officers; he don't have a gun, is there any reason to shoot him? No! So, my position is they got to go!"

    Following the incident, the Georgia NAACP tweeted an immediate call for Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to relieve Chief Shields of duty.

    "@KeishaBottoms, @Atlanta_Police needs a serious overhaul. The continuation of these kinds of actions require immediate resolution. Instead of seeing an improvement, it continues to happen day after day. Chief Shields must be relieved immediately."

    The GBI will continue its independent investigation of the incident. Once completed, the case will be turned over to the Fulton County District Attorney's Office for review.

    According to the GBI, this is the 48th officer-involved shooting their agency has been asked to investigate in 2020.
    http://mydeathspace.com/article/2020...Atlanta_Police
    Last edited by raisedbywolves; 06-14-2020 at 06:25 PM.

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Posts
    4,558
    Rep Power
    0
    https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/atl...ood-restaurant

    Update Chief Shields is out of the Atlanta Police Department.

    ATLANTA - Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields has stepped down, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced at a press conference Saturday afternoon.

    She said it was Shields’ own decision to step aside as police chief and that she would remain with the city in an undetermined role.

    Shields released the following statement:

    "For more than two decades, I have served alongside some of the finest women and men 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. 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."

    The mayor announced that former Assistant Police Chief Rodney Bryant would serve as the interim chief.

    Shield's decision comes less than 24 hours after a deadly officer-involved shooting at a fast-food restaurant on University Avenue in southwest Atlanta Friday night. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting.

    “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.

    Atlanta police units initially responded to a 911 call reporting a suspicious person at Wendy's around 10:30 p.m. Friday. Officers found a man asleep in his car, parked in the drive-thru lane and blocking customers, according to GBI.

    Sign up for FOX 5 email alerts

    They reportedly conducted a sobriety test, but when they attempted to arrest the man, identified as 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks, a struggle ensued. Authorities said Brooks had grabbed an officer’s Taser, but was running away when he was shot.

    A crowd of demonstrators gathered Saturday outside the Atlanta restaurant where Brooks was shot. Gerald Griggs, an attorney and a vice president of Atlanta's NAACP chapter, estimated there were 150 people protesting at the scene as he walked with them Saturday afternoon.

    "The people are upset," Griggs said. "They want to know why their dear brother Rayshard Brooks was shot and killed when he was merely asleep on the passenger side and not doing anything."

    Even though Brooks struggled with officers, Griggs said, "they could have used nonlethal force to take him down."

    The GBI said its agents were reviewing video taken by witnesses. The agency also posted to Twitter a plea for witnesses to come forward, saying some at the scene "chose not to be interviewed by GBI agents."

    A security camera recorded Brooks "running or fleeing from Atlanta police officers," Reynolds said. "It appears that he has in his hand a Taser."

    During a short foot chase Brooks "turns around and it appears at that time he points a Taser at an Atlanta officer," Georgia Bureau of Investigation Director Vic Reynolds said. That's when the officer drew his gun and shot Brooks, he said, estimating the officer fired three times.

    Atlanta Deputy Police Chief Timothy Peek told reporters late Friday that both officers deployed their Tasers in an attempt to subdue the suspect but were unable to "stop the aggression of the fight."

    Reynolds said his agents will turn over results of their investigation to Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard, whose office will decide whether criminal charges are warranted against either of the officers. Howard said Saturday his office had already gotten involved.

    "My office has already launched an intense, independent investigation of the incident," Howard said in a statement, saying members of his staff "were on scene shortly after the shooting, and we have been in investigative sessions ever since to identify all of the facts and circumstances surrounding this incident."

    Brooks died after being taken to an Atlanta hospital. One of the officers was treated and released for unspecified injuries.

    The officers involved in the shooting were not immediately identified.

    The shooting came at a time of heightened tension over police brutality and calls for reforms across the U.S. following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

    Atlanta was among U.S. cities where large crowds of protesters took to the streets.

  3. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    GA girl living in NY
    Posts
    3,837
    Rep Power
    21474855
    RAYSHARD BROOKS WENDY'S WHERE BRUTAL KILLING OCCURRED DESTROYED

    https://www.tmz.com/2020/06/14/atlan...-protest-riot/



    The Wendy's in Atlanta -- where a man who fell asleep in his car and essentially received a death sentence by cops -- has been burned down, during a night of protest and civil disturbance.

    A video posted on Twitter shows the beginnings of the blaze ... you hear the man shooting the video say, "Look at this white girl. Look at the white girl trying to burn down the Wendy's. This wasn't us."

    The fast-food restaurant became a flashpoint Saturday for protests against police brutality and racism.

    As TMZ reported all day Saturday, cops got a call that someone in line was sleeping and partially blocking the drive-thru. Cops arrived, and the situation escalated to where Brooks grabbed one of the officer's tasers and began running. As he ran, he appeared to vaguely point the NON-LETHAL weapon behind him, and that's when Brooks was shot 3 times.

    Fire at Wendy's on University Ave in southwest Atlanta raging. A night to remember in Atlanta: Rayshard Brooks shot by an officer, the chief of Atlanta police resigned, and protesters stormed the interstate. Now, fire. #AtlantaShooting #AtlantaProtest

    The cop involved in the shooting was fired overnight, and the other cop assisting was put on administrative leave. This, as the Police Chief submitted her resignation.

    A little perspective ... so in Minneapolis, a call over what at worst was passing a counterfeit bill turned to a brutal murder. And in Atlanta, sleeping in the car ended with death. And, check out the video of a violent confrontation that started with a call that someone might have been smoking weed in a car.

    Cities and counties can ban all sorts of police techniques, but until there is a cultural shift, built from the ground up in these departments, where de-escalation becomes the guiding light, this insane violence will continue.

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Virginia, USA
    Posts
    327
    Rep Power
    5355936
    I dont see how this has worked in the past. To protest criminal behavior with criminal behavior usually doesn't provoke any empathy for any of them.

  5. #5
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    GA girl living in NY
    Posts
    3,837
    Rep Power
    21474855

  6. #6
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Posts
    4,558
    Rep Power
    0
    https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rayshar...rotests-video/


    Now the Officer accused of shooting Brooks is fired is identified as Garrett Rolfe.

    An Atlanta police officer was fired early Sunday following the fatal shooting of a black man, which triggered unrest and new waves of protests in the city. Rayshard Brooks, 27, was fatally shot by police at a Wendy's drive-thru after officials said he resisted arrest and stole an officer's Taser.


    An autopsy found that Brooks suffered two gunshot wounds to his back and he died of organ injuries and blood loss, the Fulton County Medical Examiner said on Sunday. The manner of death was listed as a homicide.

    The fired officer, Garrett Rolfe, was hired by the department in October 2013, a department spokesperson said. Devin Brosnan, another officer at the scene, was placed on administrative duty.
    Rolfe's firing follows the resignation of the city's police chief, Erika Shields, who left the department just a day after the deadly shooting. Former Assistant Chief Rodney Bryant, who is black, will serve as the city's interim police chief.

    In a statement, Shields said: "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."


    Police said Brooks fell asleep in the Wendy's drive-thru on Friday night and had failed a sobriety test. When police tried to take him into custody, Brooks resisted and stole a Taser from an officer, they said. Brooks ran from the officers, and at one point, aimed the Taser at police before the officer fired his weapon, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said, citing surveillance video that was released to the public.

    "While there may be debate as to whether this was an appropriate use of deadly force, I firmly believe that there is a clear distinction between what you can do and what you should do," Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said in a news conference. "I do not believe that this was a justified use of deadly force."
    Brooks was taken to a local hospital where he died after surgery, officials said. One officer was treated for an injury and discharged from the hospital.

    L. Chris Stewart, an attorney for Brooks' family, said the officer who killed Brooks should face charges. "Black, white, Hispanic, whatever you are," Stewart said in a news conference. "Are you not tired of seeing cases like this happen?"

    Stewart said Brooks had planned on taking his 8-year-old daughter skating for her birthday but never came home. "She had her birthday dress on. She was waiting for her dad to come pick her up and take her skating," he said Saturday.

    Brooks has three daughters, ages 1, 2 and 8, and a 13-year-old stepson. Tomika Miller, who was married to Brooks for eight years, said she dropped to her knees when she heard the news.

    "It was murder — that was not justified," Miller told CBS News. "He was shot running away. He wasn't dangerous. He wasn't coming at them in any kind of way to where they felt a threat, they shouldn't have felt threatened."

    Miller never imagined she'd be in the same position as the family of George Floyd, a 46-year-old who died in the custody of Minneapolis police.

    "I want them to go to jail," Miller said of the officers. "I want them to deal with the same things as if it was my husband who killed somebody else. If it was my husband who shot them, he would be in jail. He would be doing a life sentence."


    Brooks' niece, Chassidy Evans, remembered him in a news conference Monday. "Not only was he a girl dad, he was a loving husband, caring brother and most importantly, to me, an uncle I could depend on," Evans said. "Rayshard Brooks was silly, had the brightest smile and the biggest heart, and loved to dance since we were kids."

    Brooks' death ignited angry demonstrations in the city. Protesters on Saturday set fire to the Wendy's restaurant where Brooks was killed and shut down an interstate highway in both directions. At least 36 people were arrested, police said.

    The city of Atlanta was roiled by protests following Floyd's death. Six officers were charged with assault and four were fired after video showed police pulling two college students out of their car during a demonstration on May 30. The officers used a stun gun on the driver and passenger. Footage of the incident was broadcast live by WGCL-TV.

  7. #7
    Scoopski Potatoes Nic B's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Sacramento, California
    Posts
    12,774
    Rep Power
    21474861
    Quote Originally Posted by raisedbywolves View Post
    Good!


    Quote Originally Posted by marakisses View Post
    yes i said i will leave it under you storage he said cuddle with me i said shut up it over??? what am i doing wrong??
    Quote Originally Posted by curiouscat View Post
    Happy Birthday! I hid a dead body in your backyard to celebrate. Good luck finding it under the cement. You can only use a stick to look for it.

  8. #8
    Senior Member KimTisha's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Somewhere Over the Rainbow
    Posts
    7,226
    Rep Power
    21474861
    Stewart said Brooks had planned on taking his 8-year-old daughter skating for her birthday but never came home. "She had her birthday dress on. She was waiting for her dad to come pick her up and take her skating," he said Saturday.
    Ten-thirty at night and totally out of it like that, he shouldn't be taking a child anywhere.

    Here's the entire 43 minute encounter. The initial responding officer is Brosnan, the DUI Unit is Rolfe (the shooter).

    You are talking to a woman who has laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom and chuckled at catastrophe.
    ...Collector of Chairs. Reader of Books. Hater of Nutmeg...

  9. #9
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Posts
    4,558
    Rep Power
    0
    https://www.11alive.com/article/news...e-060628c23632

    Update Natalie White (29) has been named as a person of interest in relation to setting the crime scene of the Rayshard Brook's police brutality on fire.

    ATLANTA — An arrest warrant has been issued for a 29-year-old woman in connection with the fire that destroyed the Wendy's restaurant on University Avenue last weekend.

    According to a release from Sgt. Cortez Stafford from the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department, an arrest warrant has been issued for Natalie White.

    Rayshard Brooks was shot and killed by an Atlanta police officer in the parking lot of that restaurant on Friday, June 12.

    The restaurant was destroyed the following night, while demonstrators marched on University Avenue and other roadways nearby, including Interstate 75/85.

    A $10,000 reward was issued for a masked individual last Sunday, who could be seen in a Twitter video pouring some sort of accelerant into the front of the Wendy's building as it was burning.

    According to Stafford, the investigation remains ongoing and additional arrests are possible.

    Anyone who has information regarding the whereabouts of Natalie White or anyone else related to the incident is asked to contact Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-TIPS (8477) or the Arson Tip Line at 800-282-5804.

  10. #10
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Posts
    4,558
    Rep Power
    0
    https://www.11alive.com/article/news...f-dfc69dde3af7

    ATLANTA — A week after the shooting of Rayshard Brooks, records released to 11Alive detail previous investigations into the conduct of the Atlanta Police officer who shot him.

    Garrett Rolfe is now being charged with 11 different counts, including felony murder, according to District Attorney Paul Howard. Devin Brosnan, the other officer involved is facing four charges.

    11Alive's investigative team, the Reveal, found an accusation of a cover up from 2015, involving Rolfe and other Atlanta Police officers.

    Records from Fulton County court show officers failed to mention they fired multiple shots into a stolen truck, hitting the driver, in the incident report.

    Jackie Harris was shot in the center of his back.

    The police incident report said only that "Mr. Harris was transported to Grady [hospital] due to injuries during the incident."

    In the seemingly detailed report, officers described the equipment that identified the truck as stolen, the specifics on the chase, officers on scene, a failed attempt to break the truck's window, the equipment used after to break it, Harris moving to the passenger side of the truck to "avoid detainment", and more. The report even ended with a sentence about how one of the officers sustained a finger injury from striking the truck window.

    But missing information was what the court was troubled by.

    Judge Doris Downs said from the bench, "None of the police put in the report that they shot the man - none of them - and they sent him to Grady with collapsed lungs and everything, and the report doesn't mention it. I am ethically going to be required to turn all of them in."

    This incident showed up on Rolfe's disciplinary record as being investigated for a firearm discharge in 2015. According to court records, Rolfe fired three of the five shots into the truck. The final disposition for that internal investigation however, is blank on the report that Atlanta Police provided.

    In a letter to the court, Harris explained his side of what happened, saying he did not have a weapon and believes the officers used "unjustifiable lethal force."

    "Not only have I been wronged and unjustly caused bodily harm by a 'peace officer', but the lack of documentation by the Atlanta Police Department can only be conceived as a 'cover up,'" Harris wrote.

    Atlanta Police supervisors did tell 11Alive on the scene that night, that officers did fire into the truck.

    However, 11Alive later learned that the DA cleared Rolfe and the other Atlanta officers involved in the shooting this past February, four-and-a-half years later, determining that there was "no criminal conduct related to the actions" of the officers. No charges were brought against the officers.

    Because the prosecutor admitted there were concerns over the officers' credibility in the case, Harris was given two years probation in a 2016 plea deal, even though the defendant was charged with multiple felonies.

    Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect new information uncovered by 11Alive Investigator Brendan Keefe that the district attorney cleared Rolfe and the officers involved in the incident.

  11. #11
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Posts
    4,558
    Rep Power
    0
    https://www.11alive.com/article/news...e-b3c09c69df31

    ATLANTA — Police say a woman has been shot near the Wendy's where a deadly officer-involved shooting occurred just a week earlier.

    A spokesperson for the Atlanta Police Department said the victim was shot in the leg and is "alert, conscious, and breathing" though further details are still limited at this time.

    According to a report Atlanta Police Officer Steve Avery, officers were dispatched to the 100 block of University Avenue at about 10:45 p.m., after receiving reports of a person shot.

    Once they arrived, investigators found 24-year-old Mahima Dhesi, who told them she was at a vigil or protest in the area when a black male with a bald head who appeared to be randomly shooting when she was hit in the leg, Avery said.

    He said that she was reported to be in stable condition.

    Avery said that a witness told police that a white male and female in a vehicle drove up and started shooting at the crowd.

    The shooting happened in the same area where Rayshard Brooks was shot and killed by an Atlanta Police officer. Brooks allegedly pointed a taser at the officers that he took during a struggle.

    An alleged witness video shared on Twitter appears to show the scene. In it, several shots are heard and people are seen running. A short time later, someone yells that a woman had been hit by gunfire. The video shows a woman receiving treatment a short time later.

    A man can be heard off-camera saying a bullet narrowly missed him and hit the victim instead.

    The person who recorded the video said a protest was ongoing at the time of the gunfire and suggests the victim was a protester.

    Officer Avery said that investigators are reviewing the accounts of the shooting and are working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident.

  12. #12
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Posts
    4,558
    Rep Power
    0
    https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regi...kQJk1Iv6lA2nL/

    Although this debate is happening in response to Ahmaud Arbery as stated in the article its also in response to the Rayshard Brooks death.


    The Georgia House backed an effort Friday to dissolve the Glynn County Police Department following its handling of the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery.


    The House voted 152-3 to allow voters to decide to eliminate their county police departments, moving authority to county sheriff’s offices.There are several county police departments in Georgia, including in Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties. In counties where there are two agencies, the county police handle the enforcement of state and local laws while the sheriff’s office manages the jail.The vote comes after the shooting death of Arbery, a 25-year-old black man who was killed in February while jogging near Brunswick. Three white men, Travis and Greg McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan, have each been charged with felony murder in the Arbery case, which has drawn national attention and sparked demonstrations. “There have been too many missteps over there,” said state Rep. Al Williams, a Democrat from Midway. “It’s time to be going in a different direction.”A previous version of the legislation, Senate Bill 38, was initially introduced in January in response to years of alleged problems with the Glynn County Police Department. That bill didn’t advance, but it was revived after Arbery’s death.Travis and Greg McMichael were charged with murder and aggravated assault in May after video of the incident surfaced and the GBI opened an investigation.“They should have arrested the McMichaels at the scene, and they did not,” said state Rep. Don Hogan, a Republican from St. Simons Island.

    The legislation now moves to the state Senate for further consideration.

  13. #13
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Posts
    4,558
    Rep Power
    0
    https://apnews.com/870f32a425b41ce391f84e1625439ebe

    ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta police officers called out sick Thursday to protest the filing of murder charges against an officer who shot a man in the back, while the interim chief acknowledged members of the force feel abandoned amid protests demanding massive changes to policing.

    Interim Chief Rodney Bryant told The Associated Press in an interview that the sick calls began Wednesday night and continued Thursday, but said the department has sufficient staff to protect the city. It’s not clear how many officers have called out.

    “Some are angry. Some are fearful. Some are confused on what we do in this space. Some may feel abandoned,” Bryant said of the officers. “But we are there to assure them that we will continue to move forward and get through this.”

    Prosecutors brought felony murder and other charges against Garrett Rolfe, a white officer who shot Rayshard Brooks after the 27-year-old black man grabbed a Taser during a struggle and ran, firing it at the officer, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said.

    Howard said Brooks was not a deadly threat at the time and that the officer kicked the wounded man and offered no medical treatment for over two minutes as he lay dying. Another officer, Devin Brosnan, who the district attorney said stood on Brooks’ shoulder as he struggled for his life, was charged with aggravated assault and violation of his oath.

    Rolfe and Brosnan both contend their actions were justified and turned themselves in Thursday. Jail records show Brosnan was released on a signature bond, meaning he only has to pay if he fails to show up for court, while Rolfe was being held without bond. Rolfe has been fired and Brosnan placed on desk duty.

    A few hours after reporting to the Fulton County jail in Atlanta, Rolfe was moved to the jail in neighboring Gwinnett County, according to online records.

    The decision to prosecute the officers came less than five days after the killing rocked a city — and a nation — still reeling after George Floyd’s death at the hands of police in Minneapolis set off nationwide protests that have urged an extensive rethink of policing and an examination of racism in the United States.

    L. Chris Stewart, a lawyer for Tomika Miller, Brooks’ widow, told reporters the charging of the officers brought the family no joy.

    “Some people thought that we’d be happy and be celebrating and have a fist in the air, but it’s more a disappointment that this is the state of policing and this is where we’re at,” he said.

    Bryant, who took over after the previous chief resigned resigned in the wake of the shooting, wore a navy blue shirt Thursday, rather than the white shirt typically worn by command staff, to show solidarity with the officers.

    In the roughly three weeks since protests of Floyd’s killing first broke out in Georgia’s capital, officers have worked shifts of 12 or more hours and have been yelled at, spit on and had things thrown at them, Bryant said.

    MORE STORIES:
    – Prosecutors charge police, push reforms amid Floyd protests
    – The Latest: Oregon deputies accused of pinning child by neck
    – As racism protests roil US, Florida revisits dark past
    “At some point, people get tired, I recognize that, and physically exhausted,” he said. “We will definitely get beyond it, and I’m certain that we will see our sick-outs drop back to normal, average.”

    The weeks since Floyd’s killing have seen lawmakers pass police reforms, Americans reconsider statues commemorating controversial figures, and ideas like defunding police become part of the national conversation. The largest labor group in the Seattle area voted to expel the city’s police union Wednesday, saying the guild representing officers failed to address racism in its ranks, and California’s police chiefs on Thursday endorsed a plan to more aggressively weed out cops who break the law or have a history of complaints.

    Full Coverage: Racial injustice
    But the drive for change has also drawn pushback, and divisions over the role police should play are becoming a major political flashpoint.

    Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, issued a strong message of support for police on Thursday.

    “We remember those who died in the line of duty and their families, who still mourn their passing,” he said in a video his office posted to social media.

    While some have hailed the prosecutor’s office for moving quickly in the Brooks killing, Bryant said he was surprised at the speed, noting that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation hadn’t yet finished looking into it.

    He would not say how many officers called out. But just one officer showed up for work Thursday morning in one zone, which several dozen are assigned to patrol, according to Vince Champion, southeast regional director for the International Brotherhood of Police Officers.

    Atlanta officers are walking off their shifts or not responding to calls because they feel “abandoned, betrayed, used in a political game,” Champion told the AP.

    Champion said he’s heard from several officers that they fear using force to protect themselves will get them fired or arrested.

    Brooks’ funeral is set for Tuesday at Atlanta’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, which was the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s congregation, the Rev. Raphael Warnock announced. Tyler Perry, the actor and filmmaker, has offered financial help for the services, officials said.

    Warnock urged people to remember all the lives lost in recent weeks in interactions with police.

    “Tragically and involuntarily they all have become visible victims in an urgent public conversation about justice and fairness in our nation,” said Warnock.

    Police in Atlanta were called to a Wendy’s last week over complaints of a car blocking the drive-thru lane and found Brooks asleep behind the wheel. A breath test showed he was intoxicated. Officers had a relatively calm conversation with Brooks before things rapidly turned violent when officers tried to handcuff him.

    Rolfe shot Brooks after he grabbed a Taser, fired it and ran, Howard, the prosecutor, said. But when the officer fired, Brooks was too far from him for the Taser to be a danger, and it had already been fired twice, so it was empty, Howard said.

    Rolfe’s lawyers said he feared for his and others’ safety. Rolfe opened fire after hearing a sound “like a gunshot and saw a flash in front of him,” apparently from the Taser.

    The felony murder charge against Rolfe, 27, carries life in prison or the death penalty, if prosecutors decide to seek it. He was also charged with 10 other offenses punishable by decades behind bars.

    The district attorney said the other officer, Brosnan, 26, is cooperating with prosecutors and will testify. But his attorneys said he hasn’t agreed to be a witness for prosecutors.

    One of this lawyers, Don Samuel, said Thursday that Brosnan suffered a concussion during the struggle with Brooks and put his foot on Brooks only briefly when he heard gunshots because he didn’t know where they were coming from.

    “He’s worried that he may have access to a weapon,” Samuel said.

  14. #14
    Senior Member curiouscat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Posts
    2,522
    Rep Power
    21474849
    Sad, seeing this guy on video knowing he'd be dead at the end. A taser is definitely not justified use of deadly force. Also, the guy wasn't even blocking the drive-thru. People could've gone around his car.
    No excuse for burning a business down that had nothing to do with the incident.

  15. #15
    Senior Member KimTisha's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Somewhere Over the Rainbow
    Posts
    7,226
    Rep Power
    21474861
    Quote Originally Posted by curiouscat View Post
    Sad, seeing this guy on video knowing he'd be dead at the end. A taser is definitely not justified use of deadly force. Also, the guy wasn't even blocking the drive-thru. People could've gone around his car.
    No excuse for burning a business down that had nothing to do with the incident.
    I agree that it's very sad it ended this way. But I'm going to respectfully disagree that firing a taser doesn't justify the use of deadly force. People think tasers are "non-lethal force" but they aren't, especially in the hands of someone not trained to use them. The manufacturer warns that targeting center mass significantly increases the risk of disturbing heart rhythms. Instructions for the taser contain an 18-point warning including to avoid targeting the head/face/neck and center mass. Brooks fired that taser directly at the officer's face. Deaths from cardiac arrest after being tased are well documented, and Amnesty International has long advocated banning the use of tasers by police specifically because of the alarming number of deaths associated with their use. On average, one person a week dies after being tased by police, some of them hours later.

    In 2005, Axon (developers/manufacturers of the Taser trademark) voluntarily changed their consumer literature claims from "non-lethal" to "less-lethal," citing the Department of Defense definition in it's decision: "Non-lethal weapons are defined as weapons that are explicitly designed and primarily employed so as to incapacitate personnel, while minimizing fatalities, permanent injury to personnel, and undesired damage to property and the environment." [Emphasis added.]

    So as far back as 2005, Axon admitted their tasers are not designed to minimize fatalities. Aside from the obvious danger of cardiac arrest/arrhythmia, etc., a tased and incapacitated police officer is in grave and imminent danger of having his weapon stolen and used against him or innocent civilians. A Taser isn't as safe an alternative as the average civilian is led to believe.
    You are talking to a woman who has laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom and chuckled at catastrophe.
    ...Collector of Chairs. Reader of Books. Hater of Nutmeg...

  16. #16
    Senior Member curiouscat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Posts
    2,522
    Rep Power
    21474849
    Quote Originally Posted by KimTisha View Post
    I agree that it's very sad it ended this way. But I'm going to respectfully disagree that firing a taser doesn't justify the use of deadly force. People think tasers are "non-lethal force" but they aren't, especially in the hands of someone not trained to use them. The manufacturer warns that targeting center mass significantly increases the risk of disturbing heart rhythms. Instructions for the taser contain an 18-point warning including to avoid targeting the head/face/neck and center mass. Brooks fired that taser directly at the officer's face. Deaths from cardiac arrest after being tased are well documented, and Amnesty International has long advocated banning the use of tasers by police specifically because of the alarming number of deaths associated with their use. On average, one person a week dies after being tased by police, some of them hours later.

    In 2005, Axon (developers/manufacturers of the Taser trademark) voluntarily changed their consumer literature claims from "non-lethal" to "less-lethal," citing the Department of Defense definition in it's decision: "Non-lethal weapons are defined as weapons that are explicitly designed and primarily employed so as to incapacitate personnel, while minimizing fatalities, permanent injury to personnel, and undesired damage to property and the environment." [Emphasis added.]

    So as far back as 2005, Axon admitted their tasers are not designed to minimize fatalities. Aside from the obvious danger of cardiac arrest/arrhythmia, etc., a tased and incapacitated police officer is in grave and imminent danger of having his weapon stolen and used against him or innocent civilians. A Taser isn't as safe an alternative as the average civilian is led to believe.
    I changed my mind about the use of a taser in this case, because he wasn't the only cop on the scene was he?
    If he was, I thought of the possibility of while the officer was down, the guy could've taken his gun and shot him.
    But then I thought surely bystanders would help the cop before he got shot. I heard the police guns aren't easy to grab from the holster.
    Quote Originally Posted by Boston Babe 73 View Post
    I don't have a thousand dollars hanging around to buy a fart in a jar lol.

  17. #17
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Posts
    4,558
    Rep Power
    0
    https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/23/us/na...son/index.html

    (CNN)The woman named as a suspect in the Wendy's restaurant fire that broke out during protests over Rayshard Brooks' death in Atlanta has been arrested and is facing charges of first-degree arson, authorities said Tuesday.

    The Fulton County Sheriff's Office confirmed in a tweet that Natalie White was in custody and being booked into the county jail.

    White's lawyer, Drew Findling, said his client did not start the June 13 fire.
    When asked by CNN whether his client knew Rayshard Brooks, Findling said, "Yes, but I will not comment on the extent of their relationship."

    Findling said he wanted to keep the focus on what he called the "tragic and unnecessary death of Rayshard Brooks," whose funeral was held Tuesday.
    Previously, CNN reported investigators were looking into whether Brooks and White knew each other.
    In body camera video released by police, Brooks can be heard telling the officers who questioned him that Natalie White was his girlfriend.
    Protests raged after video posted online
    Brooks was shot and killed by an Atlanta police officer in the Wendy's parking lot the night of June 12.
    After Brooks failed a sobriety test, he scuffled with officers, grabbed one of their Tasers and was fatally shot as he ran across the parking lot.
    Bystander video of the shooting was posted online and sparked protests in the streets around the restaurant.
    On the night of June 13, the restaurant was set on fire while crowds of protesters watched.
    Tuesday, video showed vehicles in the funeral procession for Brooks making a circle through the parking lot of the burned-out restaurant.
    Lawyer hopes for no bond for client
    The US Marshals/Fulton County Sheriff's Fugitive Unit arrested White, the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Office said in a tweet. Details of the arrest were not immediately available.
    A warrant for her arrest was issued a few days ago. Atlanta Fire Rescue tweeted then that White "has been identified as a suspect in the arson fire that burned down the Wendy's Restaurant (125 University Ave) on Saturday, June 13th."
    Findling said he hoped she'd be released on her own recognizance after a court hearing Wednesday.
    He said due to concerns over Covid-19, the age and criminal history of his client and the fact that one of the officers in the case was given a signature bond last week, his client should be afforded the same.
    The officer who shot Brooks, Garrett Rolfe, who has since been fired, faces felony murder and other charges. He is being held in jail.
    Devin Brosnan, the other officer at the scene of the shooting, was charged with aggravated assault and released on his own recognizance.

    Apparently the person accused of Setting the site of Rayshard Brook's brutality scene on fire has been detained and has a connection to Brooks.

  18. #18
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Posts
    4,558
    Rep Power
    0
    https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/nat...-on-10000-bond

    FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - A woman accused of setting fire to the southwest Atlanta Wendy's where Rayshard Brooks was shot bonded out of jail Wednesday. This after being granted bond with certain conditions earlier in the day by a Fulton County magistrate judge.

    FOX 5's Aungelique Proctor learned during Wednesday's court appearance, a judge issued a $10,000 bond for Natalie White.

    Prominent Atlanta attorney Drew Findling said he has known Natalie White since she was about 8 years old.

    He asked a judge to grant her a signature bond on the first-degree arson charge in connection with the fire at the Wendy's restaurant on University Ave. Protestors burned the restaurant down after Atlanta police shot 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks in the back on June 12 during a DUI arrest.

    "Natalie did not set that Wendy's on fire, I want to make that point clear," Attorney Findling said.

    Magistrate Judge Todd Ashley told the court Ms. White may be a danger to the community and insisted on a $10,000 bond and house arrest. The judge also banned the UGA grad from using social media while out on bond.

    The Fulton County Sheriff's Office announced on Twitter that they had apprehended the 29-year-old Tuesday afternoon shortly after Brooks' funeral ended.

    White was identified as a suspect on Saturday and Atlanta fire investigators obtained a warrant for her arrest for first-degree arson.

    FOX 5 cameras were rolling the night the fast-food restaurant went up in flames after hours of peaceful protests. In that video, a woman can be seen wearing a pink-ish-purple jacket around her waist. She appears to have an aerosol can that she ignites as others smashed windows just seconds before the fast-food restaurant went up in flames.

    "There is no evidence indicating she set Wendy’s on fire," White's attorney Drew Findling told FOX 5's Alex Whittler.

    Findling said the woman in those images that investigators released is Natalie White, but that she didn't start the fire.

    He said he was involved in discussions with the district attorney’s office to turn herself in over to authorities over the weekend.

    White's lawyer also confirmed she is the woman Rayshard Brooks was talking about to officers, seen on bodycam video just minutes before he died, but would not elaborate out of respect for the Brooks family.

    Attorneys for Brooks’ widow released a statement Tuesday—the day of the 27-year-old father’s funeral that reads:

    “We are unaware of any connection between the Natalie White that was arrested today for arson and the Natalie White mentioned by Rayshard Brooks in the bodycam video. The only person who could answer questions regarding any connection they may have had is Natalie White. The family of Rayshard Brooks is still grieving his loss. He will be greatly missed by his widow Tomika Miller and their children, as well as his many family and friends."

    Attorney Findling said his office has been inundated with support.

    "I want to thank all the people out there. It is actually blowing our minds. They are sending us emails and texts. Messages via social media that want to give to her legal fees and help with the bond and other costs," Findling remarked.


    Judge issues $10,000 bond for Wendy’s arson suspect

    Suspected arsonist Natalie White was arrested on June 23, 2020.

    FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - A woman accused of setting fire to the southwest Atlanta Wendy's where Rayshard Brooks was shot bonded out of jail Wednesday. This after being granted bond with certain conditions earlier in the day by a Fulton County magistrate judge.

    FOX 5's Aungelique Proctor learned during Wednesday's court appearance, a judge issued a $10,000 bond for Natalie White.

    Ad Content by Taboola |
    Sponsored Stories
    The Most Addictive Farm Game of 2020. No InstallTaonga: The Island Farm|
    Sponsored
    Thinning Hair? Use This Shampoo, See What HappensCel|
    Sponsored

    Prominent Atlanta attorney Drew Findling said he has known Natalie White since she was about 8 years old.

    He asked a judge to grant her a signature bond on the first-degree arson charge in connection with the fire at the Wendy's restaurant on University Ave. Protestors burned the restaurant down after Atlanta police shot 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks in the back on June 12 during a DUI arrest.

    "Natalie did not set that Wendy's on fire, I want to make that point clear," Attorney Findling said.

    Magistrate Judge Todd Ashley told the court Ms. White may be a danger to the community and insisted on a $10,000 bond and house arrest. The judge also banned the UGA grad from using social media while out on bond.

    The Fulton County Sheriff's Office announced on Twitter that they had apprehended the 29-year-old Tuesday afternoon shortly after Brooks' funeral ended.

    Suspected Wendy's arsonist Natalie White was arrested Tuesday, June 23, 2020 (FOX 5 Atlanta).

    White was identified as a suspect on Saturday and Atlanta fire investigators obtained a warrant for her arrest for first-degree arson.

    FOX 5 cameras were rolling the night the fast-food restaurant went up in flames after hours of peaceful protests. In that video, a woman can be seen wearing a pink-ish-purple jacket around her waist. She appears to have an aerosol can that she ignites as others smashed windows just seconds before the fast-food restaurant went up in flames.

    "There is no evidence indicating she set Wendy’s on fire," White's attorney Drew Findling told FOX 5's Alex Whittler.

    Findling said the woman in those images that investigators released is Natalie White, but that she didn't start the fire.

    He said he was involved in discussions with the district attorney’s office to turn herself in over to authorities over the weekend.

    White's lawyer also confirmed she is the woman Rayshard Brooks was talking about to officers, seen on bodycam video just minutes before he died, but would not elaborate out of respect for the Brooks family.
    Wendy’s arson suspect arrested

    The woman accused of setting fire to the Wendy's where Rayshard Brooks was shot and killed was arrested Tuesday.

    Attorneys for Brooks’ widow released a statement Tuesday—the day of the 27-year-old father’s funeral that reads:

    “We are unaware of any connection between the Natalie White that was arrested today for arson and the Natalie White mentioned by Rayshard Brooks in the bodycam video. The only person who could answer questions regarding any connection they may have had is Natalie White. The family of Rayshard Brooks is still grieving his loss. He will be greatly missed by his widow Tomika Miller and their children, as well as his many family and friends."
    Protesters surround jail after Wendy’s arson suspect arrested

    Natalie White, one of the women wanted in connection to a fire set at the Wendy's where Rayshard Brooks was shot and killed, was arrested Tuesday, prompting protesters to demonstrate outside the jail.

    SEE MORE: Investigators identify woman suspected in Atlanta Wendy's arson

    Attorney Findling said his office has been inundated with support.

    "I want to thank all the people out there. It is actually blowing our minds. They are sending us emails and texts. Messages via social media that want to give to her legal fees and help with the bond and other costs," Findling remarked.

    The State Arson control board has are offered an additional $10,000 reward in the case. Authorities had previously announced a $10,000 reward for any information that leads to the arrest of anyone connected to the fire, which gutted the restaurant during a demonstration over the killing of Brooks by a white police officer.

    Atlanta Fire Department officials say that the fire at the fast-food restaurant started in multiple locations using multiple incendiary methods and devices. Officials estimated that there were at least 10 attempts to set the building on fire.

    White was booked into the Fulton County Jail where a small, but vocal group of protesters gathered to denounce her arrest late Tuesday evening. She was released Wednesday evening.

  19. #19
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Posts
    4,558
    Rep Power
    0
    https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atl...B3B3BGRRPIU7Y/

    ATLANTA — Channel 2 Action News has learned that around 170 officers called out sick in the hours and days following the Fulton County district attorney’s decision to charge the officers involved in the deadly shooting of Rayshard Brooks.

    Channel 2 investigative reporter Nicole Carr obtained the records for what has been dubbed the “Blue Flu.” The bulk of them arrived Thursday.

    What’s clear from the documents is that most of the officers called in sick last Friday and that most of them worked downtown, where the center of protests have been.
    “The city’s response, I recall early on, seems like they downplayed those numbers. The public should know that’s a significant amount of police officers who did not come to work during that time period,” retired Atlanta police Detective Vince Velasquez said.

    Carr received the 52 pages of attendance sheets for the Atlanta Police Department, which show 171 officers called out sick between Wednesday and Saturday.


    New numbers show continued dramatic slowdown of policing in Atlanta for second week
    It’s the best look to date of the so-called Blue Flu protest — a moniker for police protests following the charges filed against two Atlanta police officers in the Brooks deadly shooting.

    One of the officers is facing felony murder. For the other at the center of controversy, his legal team denied he’s serving as a state’s witness.

    “That’s something I’ve never seen in my career,” Velasquez said.

    On Friday, Atlanta was missing 90 police officers on the streets due to a sickout status. About half of them came from Zone 5, which covers most of downtown and the center of city protests against police brutality.

    “Some officers have flatly told me that they’re afraid to go to work and to answer a call and commit to a process and feel like they’re doing the right thing, feel like they’re doing their jobs, and then face not just disciplinary action, but prosecution,” Velasquez said. “This is a unique case because some of the charges that were brought up with these officers were policy violations that were turned into oath-of-office crimes that were alleged by the DA, and some of these things are completely foreign to all of us.”

    As the fallout continued during the week, we could hear silent scanners.

    Both Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and interim police Chief Rodney Bryant assured the public that serious 911 calls would not go unanswered.

    “We have not given up on this city,” Bryant said Saturday, following what we now know to be the highest volume of officer sickout calls.

    “It definitely seems like a lot. Out of the norm. Unusual. Obviously, with the circumstances currently going on, it’s definitely understandable what’s going on. I’m not completely surprised,” said Ava Arjmand, who lives in the police department’s Zone 5.

    Arjmand told Carr that she understands last week’s sickouts, but hopes this doesn’t become a pattern that would drive her to lawmakers.

    “I can’t go out and force people to go to work every day. It’s just an oath they take and, hopefully, they stick by that oath and protect the residents and do their jobs, just like everybody else in any other industry goes to work every day and puts a smile on their face and continues to get their jobs done,” Arjmand said. “It’s dangerous right now. And as we all work through this as a country, as a state or as a city on how to reform, it’s hard to remain positive. It’s hard to remain safe, and I mean for both sides. Not just police officers, but people who are affected by police brutality. But people have to understand that police officers are concerned with that and calling in sick is not … it’s foreign. It’s something that police departments are not accustomed to police officers doing.”

    Carr has put in requests to city leaders and APD for a response to the numbers. So far, she has not heard back from any of them, but she still has records pending to give us a sense of what happened since the end of last weekend.

    As of Thursday evening, APD said it has had five officers dismissed, five officers retire, and 10 officers retire so far in the month of June. The May records show eight officers have resigned. We know that the shift with the protests didn’t start until May 29.

  20. #20
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Posts
    4,558
    Rep Power
    0
    https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/wom...months-earlier

    NORCROSS, Ga. - Some two months before police charged Natalie White with burning down the Wendy’s where Rayshard Brooks was killed by police, she had another interaction with police.

    Childhood friends in Norcross told police she tore up their home and struck one of them in the face.

    No charges were filed that night, but on a police body cam video obtained by the I-Team Natalie White told an officer it all started because her friends told her she was crazy.

    She was cut, bleeding, and Vvsibly upset as a Norcross patrolman gently wrapped her hand, she would verbally spar with officers for more than 40 minutes making it clear she wanted no part of the police.

    "You can shoot me. You can shoot me. I have nothing. I didn't call, I know the law. I'm not a fool. Let me go the **** home, man," White said to an officer captured on his body camera.

    It was late April according to a Norcross Police report. While visiting two childhood friends Natalie White "became emotional and began throwing things." Those friends called the police.

    Officers wearing body cameras saw the damage first hand. Natalie White struck her childhood friend according to the report. She threw liquor bottles against a glass oven door, damaged a ping pong table, then punched a glass door window, gashing her hand, according to her friends.

    Police wanted emergency medical specialists with the fire department to examine her wound. She was afraid she would have to pay for care.

    Natalie White refused care. Her friends didn't file charges. But, according to the police report, one of those friends told police Natalie White needed to be sent for mental health evaluation. Natalie White told officers why her childhood friends upset her so much.

    "They were adamant, they were in my face. "

    (About what?)

    "That I'm crazy. They think I'm crazy. Do you think I'm crazy?

    (I don't know you)

    "Maybe I am, but that is not for you to determine," said White.

    Two months later the same Natalie White became a central figure in the unfolding drama involving a deadly police shooting and an arson.

    In a Wendy's parking lot, Rayshard Brooks facing a DUI arrest, fought with police, grabbed an officer's Taser, and was shot in the back by Officer Garrett Rolfe after firing the Taser at the officer while running away.

    Prior to the attempted DUI arrest, Brooks told officers his girlfriend, Natalie White, could drive him home.

    " I’m sure things will surface with the passage of time, said Natalie White's attorney Drew Findling.

    Findling would not characterize the relationship between White and Brooks, out of respect for the Brooks family.

    FOX 5 cameras rolled when a woman fitting White's description appeared to ignite an aerosol can in the doorway of Wendy’s. Findling says the Wendy’s was already on fire. She was arrested and charged with arson.

    Some two months earlier Natalie White was not arrested that night in Norcross. Police wouldn't let her drive and took her home. Earlier she had cussed about the “white entitled privileged ********” who called police on her.

    In the back seat of a patrol car, as a Norcross officer drove her home, she told the officer she sometimes forgets officers are people too.

    "Police officer are like robots now. We’re like not supposed to like them. I empathize with you," said White.

  21. #21
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Posts
    4,558
    Rep Power
    0
    https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/26/us/ra...5-three-shots/

    CNN)The former Atlanta police officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks was concerned he would face charges after firing three shots during a 2015 car chase and arrest, according to dash camera footage obtained by CNN.
    Garrett Rolfe is facing felony murder and other charges related to Brooks' killing outside an Atlanta fast-food restaurant two weeks ago.
    In the footage of the 2015 shooting released by the Fulton County Public Defender's office and in a statement after the incident, Rolfe said he worried the Black suspect, Jackie Jermaine Harris, would hit Rolfe or another officer with his truck.

    Pictures of the crime scene show the man's truck partially atop a police cruiser, blood in the interior, gunshot holes in the truck windows and windshield, and shattered glass everywhere.

    Just after the incident, Rolfe can be heard saying, "I shot like three times" and a couple of minutes later he said "that second time he came at us I know I hit him at like three times."

    Rolfe is heard saying, "He was going to hit me or one of you with the truck, I mean the shots were through the windshield." He also said, "you know how the media is" and is later heard saying "with the atmosphere they are going to charge us (expletive), the way (Fulton County DA) Paul Howard is."
    For much of the recording Rolfe is heard trying to urgently and unsuccessfully call the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, which is routine for officers after shootings. A female officer is heard throughout the video trying to calm Rolfe.
    Rolfe's gun was discharged three times, and the other two officers each discharged their firearm once, according to the investigator supplement report CNN has obtained from the Public Defender's office.
    Harris pleaded guilty to charges including theft, fleeing arrest, property damage, and damaging a police vehicle, and received probation, according to court records.

    'Nowhere in the police report does it say anything about my being shot'
    Harris was shot in his back, according to court testimony. CNN reached out to police who say the incident is still being investigated, nearly 5 years later. The police incident report only states that Harris was transported to the hospital "due to injuries during the incident."
    CNN has previously reported that Harris alleged that there was a coverup in his shooting since it was not mentioned on any of his arrest reports.
    In January 2016, Harris sent a letter to Judge Doris Downs from jail while he was awaiting trial. "I was shot at numerous times, and struck once in the back by an Atlanta Police Officer. I had no weapon and didn't try in any way to cause harm to the officer," Harris writes. "This Atlanta Police Officer used unjustifiable lethal force against me. I also feel that the Atlanta Police Department is trying to cover up their wrongdoing. Nowhere in the police report does it say anything about my being shot or the lethal force that was used against me."
    Downs told CNN in an email last week that she referred the incident to multiple agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), both by email and telephone shortly after the hearing.
    According to the court records, the judge and the assistant district attorney discussed probation because of the concern that the officers did not include the shooting in any of their reports.
    DA decided to not pursue charges, according to letter
    Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announced in February of this year that his office would not pursue criminal charges against Rolfe and the other two officers, according to a letter provided to CNN by Rolfe's attorney.
    "We have determined that there was no criminal conduct related to the actions of the above-named officer(s)," Howard's letter to then-Atlanta Police Chief Erica Shields reads. Howard also informed Shields that his office was not bringing criminal charges against any of the three officers. "Paul Howard cleared my client of any wrong doing," Rolfe's attorney Noah Pines told CNN in an email.

    Harris condemned the unnamed officer who he believes shot him in his 2016 letter to the judge.
    "Not only have l been wronged and unjustly caused bodily harm by a 'Peace Officer', but the lack of documentation by the Atlanta Police Department can only be conceived as a 'cover up.' Not only have I been wronged but society as well by allowing this officer to continue to patrol out streets of Metro Atlanta."

  22. #22
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
    Location
    Virginia, USA
    Posts
    327
    Rep Power
    5355936
    Corruption is evil.

  23. #23
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Posts
    4,558
    Rep Power
    0
    https://www.foxla.com/news/ex-office...ty-over-firing

    ATLANTA - The attorneys for the former Atlanta police officer charged in the deadly shooting of Rayshard Brooks have filed a petition arguing he should be given back his job because Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms did not follow the city's rules when she fired him.

    In a statement, Garrett Rolfe's attorneys say that the City of Atlanta "willfully and blatantly failed to abide" by city ordinances designed to give employees due process, such as notice and the opportunity to be heard, before they can be fired.

    Rolfe was fired by Bottoms on June 15, a few days after the shooting in which Brooks was killed. The officers were called over complaints of a car blocking the Wendy's drive-thru lane.

    In their statement, Rolfe's attorneys compared Rolfe's firing with the case of Atlanta City Councilman Antonio Brown, who was indicted by a federal grand jury on July 29 on charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, and making false statements on a bank loan application.

    Brown has not been removed from office. Rather, Atlanta City Council President Felicia A. Moore said that a vacancy of his District 3 seat would only happen "in the event of a resignation, conviction, or state-level suspension."

    "Like Councilman Brown, Garrett Rolfe, who has not even been indicted, is presumed innocent," Rolfe's attorneys said. "Like all City of Atlanta Police Officers, Garrett Rolfe is entitled to due process, equal protection of the law, and the benefit of the city ordinances that protect every city employee.

    The new petition came on the same day the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office asked a judge to revoke Rolfe's bond, arguing he went out of state on a vacation.

    Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said Rolfe left for vacation on Aug. 2. As part of the motion filed to revoke his bond filed on Tuesday, the DA released records showing the company tracking Rolfe's ankle monitors showed him in Daytona Beach.

    In a motion, Howard argued that Rolfe should only “leave home for medical, legal, or work-related obligations” as stipulated in the bond restrictions.

    In a letter sent by Rolfe’s lawyers to the DA, which also included as evidence in the motion, they argued the judge’s orders do not specifically exclude out-of-state travel.
    https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/da-...ion-in-florida

    Da Faq!!!!

    ATLANTA - The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office is asking a judge to revoke the bond for a former Atlanta police officer charged in the deadly shooting of Rayshard Brooks after prosecutors said he went out of state on a vacation.

    Garrett Rolfe was granted a $500,000 bond on June 29 under certain conditions. Among those conditions was Rolfe was required to wear an ankle monitor, surrender his passport, and would be subject to a curfew.

    Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said Rolfe left for vacation on Aug. 2. As part of the motion filed to revoke his bond filed on Tuesday, the DA released records showing the company tracking Rolfe's ankle monitors showed him in Daytona Beach.

    In a motion, Howard argued that Rolfe should only “leave home for medical, legal, or work-related obligations” as stipulated in the bond restrictions.

    In a letter sent by Rolfe’s lawyers to the DA, which also included as evidence in the motion, they argued the judge’s orders do not specifically exclude out-of-state travel.

    Rolfe faces 11 charges, including felony murder and multiple counts of assault with a deadly weapon in the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks. The felony murder charge against Rolfe, 27, carries life in prison or the death penalty if prosecutors decide to seek it.

    Brooks, 27, was shot and killed the night of June 12 at a Wendy's restaurant along University Avenue in southeast Atlanta. The officers were called over complaints of a car blocking the restaurant’s drive-thru lane.
    A struggle ensued between Brooks and the officers when they attempted to handcuff him, dashcam video showed. In the struggle, Brooks grabbed a Taser and ran, firing it at the officer, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said. Shots were fired at Brooks as he was running away, which were captured by a surveillance camera at the Wendy's.

    An autopsy revealed he was shot twice in the back.

    Rolfe’s lawyers said he feared for his and others’ safety and was justified in shooting Brooks. Rolfe opened fire after hearing a sound “like a gunshot and saw a flash in front of him,” apparently from the Taser.
    Officer Devin Brosnan, 26, was also charged in the incident. He is facing a charge of aggravated assault and two counts of violating his oath of office.

    There is no word on when a hearing on the DA’s motion to revoke bond will be held.

  24. #24
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Posts
    4,558
    Rep Power
    0
    https://georgiastatesignal.com/turni...-peace-center/

    The Rayshard Brooks Peace Center aims to become a community owned home for programs to support local youth, economic development, distribution of fresh food, and peace and strengthening the community said The Sleep-in Activists for the Rayshard Brooks Memorial Site.

    For two weeks, the Sleep-in Activists have been canvassing the community to inform them of the Rayshard Brooks Peace Center and to sign a petition supporting the Peace Center, in memory of Rayshard Brooks, a Black man who died after being shot by Atlanta Police officer, Garrett Rolfe, in the Wendy’s parking lot.

    I met with the activists as they reconvened from the canvass Saturday night, August 8. “Lady A,” the main activist behind the Sleep-in Activists and the Rayshard Brooks Peace Center, said they have collected just about 400 signatures in the two Saturdays they have canvassed in the Pittsburgh and Peoplestown neighborhoods, totaling 1,200 signatures.

    “Lady A,” her nickname for safety and security reasons, has lived in the area for over 25 years. She recounted what they have been up to at the Wendy’s after Rayshard Brooks’ death.

    According to her and Leonard Dungee, with Cure Violence Atlanta, they reported bearing arms in response to sightings of white supremacist agitators at the Wendy’s.

    If you did not get to visit the Peace Center before it was dismantled by order of Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, you would have seen outdoor tents, showers for the homeless, a community garden, neighbors grilling up meats to feed hundreds every week. The community space was working as they intended, refuge for homeless Black boys who sought a safer place to sleep and eat.

    “But [the media and politicians] won’t tell you the good that did happen when we were at the [Wendy’s],” say organizers Lady A and Dungee, “Only the bad, and that’s why we are canvassing; so far, nobody has heard of it. I’d say almost 100% of the people we have talked to signed the petition after we explained.”

    Peoplestown has organized before. On August 18, 2016, Georgia State finalized the purchase of Turner Field stadium with no commitment to the specific community benefits agreement the surrounding neighborhoods were asking for.

    As a Pittsburgh resident and Georgia State student, I worked alongside my neighbors and Georgia State students to demand that Georgia State University President Mark Becker agree to the community benefits agreement. Now is the perfect opportunity for Becker to speak up and stand with our Black neighbors. Even just expressing support for the peace center would help elevate the work that “Lady A” is doing.

    Alternatively, Becker could also spare a few pennies from the $21 million Center Parc Stadium agreement towards the peace center. If you want to help, attend their rally on August 29 across from the Rayshard Brooks Peace Center, formerly known as Wendy’s at 125 University Ave SW.

    “That car has driven past 5 times,” pointed out of the organizers. “The hood is woke – that’s your story!” Dungee said. Shortly after I left, they called and informed me two Georgia State troopers pulled in on them.

  25. #25
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2020
    Posts
    4,558
    Rep Power
    0
    https://wjla.com/news/2020-march-on-...mmitment-march

    WASHINGTON (ABC7) — Chris Stewart is taking on a role that is becoming more familiar in the current civil rights movement, attorney for families who have lost a loved one in a police encounter.

    Like Attorney Benjamin Crump, Stewart will be speaking at Friday's Commitment March.

    Stewart and his law firm represent the families of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks.

    Joined with Brooks' widow, Tomika Miller, Stewart shared a preview of his message with 7 On Your Side's Michelle Marsh.

    "This is probably one of the few chances when civil rights can change this country and we can't let that moment pass by," says Stewart.

    The families of Brooks, George Floyd and recently announced, family Jacob Blake will also speak at Friday's march.
    Miller says she has never spoken before a large crowd, but Friday will be speaking steps from where Dr. King delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech.

    "I'm excited because I feel like I am going to touch a lot of people and get them to see truly what having faith is all about, and I get to see other families going through some of the same things I am and support them," says Miller.

    Brooks was shot and killed by an Atlanta police officer just weeks after George Floyd's killing.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •