Atlanta police officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks won’t be charged: special prosecutor
The white Atlanta cop who shot Rayshard Brooks in 2020 after finding the Black man sleeping in his car will not be charged, a special prosecutor ruled Tuesday.
His partner also will not be charged for his role in the fatal confrontation.
“This is a case in which the officers were willing to give Mr. Brooks every benefit of the doubt and, you know, unfortunately, by his actions, this is what happened,”special prosecutor Peter Skandalakis said.
FILE - This screen grab taken from body camera video provided by the Atlanta Police Department shows Rayshard Brooks, right, as he speaks with Officer Garrett Rolfe, left, in the parking lot of a Wendy's restaurant in Atlanta, June 12, 2020.
Garrett Rolfe was one of two officers responding to a call about a man sleeping in his car in a Wendy’s drive-thru in June 2020. For 40 minutes he and partner Devin Brosnan spoke calmly with the 27-year-old Brooks, according to body-camera footage. When they tried to arrest him to stop him from driving drunk after he failed a sobriety test, Brooks struggled, grabbed a Taser from one of the two cops and ran away, firing back at the officers as he went.
Rolfe returned fire with his gun, hitting Brooks twice in the back.
“We did not look at this with 20/20 hindsight,” Skandalakis said. Given the quickly changing circumstances, was it objectively reasonable that he used deadly force? And we conclude it was.”
The Fulton County Medical Examiner ruled the manner of death as homicide, and Rolfe was immediately fired, though he has since gotten his job back. Police Chief Erika Shields resigned soon after the incident, and Rolfe’s partner was placed on administrative leave.
The confrontation took place after nationwide protests over the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis about three weeks before that had begun dying down. Brooks’ death reignited anger in Atlanta, and protesters burned down the Wendy’s restaurant. It was later bulldozed.
Both Rolfe and Brosnan were initially charged — Rolfe with felony murder, aggravated assault and violation of his oath, and Brosnan with aggravated assault and violating his oath — by then-Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard. When he lost his bid for reelection, his successor, Fani Willis, recused herself. The investigation fell to Pete Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, who nixed the charges.
The Atlanta police department expressed support for the two officers in a statement that was released during the prosecution team’s news conference.
“We have faith in the criminal justice system, and we respect the special prosecutor’s decision in this case,” the department said in the statement. “Both Officer Garrett Rolfe and Officer Devin Brosnan are still employed with APD. They are currently on administrative duty. Both officers will undergo ... recertification and training.”
That was not good enough for NAACP Georgia president Gerald Griggs, who wanted to see more than a panel of white analysts determine whether lethal force had been necessary.
“We need to present this case to a grand jury,” he told WXIA-TV, “because only the citizens of Fulton County should determine if this case should proceed forward.”
With News Wire Services
