COP FIRED, CHIEF RESIGNS, WENDY'S IS TORCHED

Atlanta erupts after Rayshard Brooks death prompts police chief to step down

 

By Dom Calicchio 

 

 Fox News

June 13, 2020

 

Protests and destruction erupted in Atlanta on Saturday night in response to the police-involved shooting death of a 27-year-old man outside a Wendy’s fast-food restaurant.

Television images showed the restaurant on fire around 9:30 p.m. ET as rioters filled the parking lot where Brooks was shot by police as he fled after allegedly grabbing a stun gun away from an officer during a struggle.

Early Sunday, around 4 a.m. ET, the Wendy's was seen burning again, Atlanta's WGCL-TV reported.

 

Smaller fires were also seen in the area Saturday night.

Nearby, protesters gathered along University Avenue, with Atlanta police blocking access ramps to Interstate 85, apparently to keep the protesters off the roadway, FOX 5 of Atlanta reported.

As the unrest continued, the Atlanta Police Department confirmed it had taken action against two police officers in connection with Brooks' death. Officer Garrett Rolfe, a veteran of more than six years with the force, was fired, and Officer Devin Bronsan, with the department since 2018, was placed on administrative duty, WSB-TV of Atlanta reported.

Earlier Saturday, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced that police Chief Erika Shields had resigned from the top job, though the mayor said Shields would remain with the department.

“I do not believe that this was a justified use of deadly force,” Bottoms said.
Protesters had painted "Defund the police" in the street outside Atlanta police headquarters.

The unrest in Atlanta came as the entire nation continued to be in a state of disruption regarding police relationships with African-Americans and other minority communities following the May 25 death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.

Atlanta residents were also reacting to at least two other incidents involving city police officers.

On May 30, a group of police officers was seen on video using stun guns on a pair of young adults who were in a car that was stuck in traffic because of protests that night. Six police officers have since been charged in connection with the case.

On May 29, a city police officer was seen slamming a Marietta, Ga., woman to the ground. The woman, Amber Jackson, later underwent surgery for a broken clavicle, FOX 5 of Atlanta reported, while the officer was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.

The Atlanta police, meanwhile, were shaken May 30 when one of their own, Officer Maximilian Brewer, was severely injured when he was struck by an all-terrain vehicle being driven by an allegedly drunken driver.

“We ask that you keep him in your thoughts and prayers,” Mayor Bottoms said about Brewer, an 18-year veteran, according to WSB. “He has a long road to recovery.”

In the Brooks incident, police had been called late Friday about a man allegedly sleeping in a car that was blocking a Wendy’s restaurant drive-thru. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was investigating reports that the man, later identified as Brooks, had failed a sobriety test and was shot in a struggle over the stun gun.

Stacey Abrams, the Georgia Democrat who gained national prominence running for governor in 2018, tweeted that “sleeping in a drive-thru must not end in death.”

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp issued a statement saying the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has launched a probe of the incident that led to Brooks's death.

"I am confident GBI Director Vic Reynolds and his team will follow the facts to ensure justice is served," Kemp wrote.

EDITOR'S NOTE: From the Daily Mail

Bodycam footage has been released showing Rolfe and Bronsan's full interaction prior to the shooting of Brooks, whom Bronsan found on the scene asleep in the driver's seat of a car blocking the Wendy's drive-thru lane.

The interaction starts off cordially, but Brooks seems visibly intoxicated, and is unable to correctly identify the city he is in, saying he is in Forest Park, an Atlanta suburb about 10 miles away from the Wendy's. 

As the bodycam footage shows, Brooks cooperates with the officers initially, agreeing to be searched for weapons and to complete a field sobriety test. Brooks then insisted that all he'd had to drink was 'one and a half daiquiris.'

The officers then administer a breathalyzer test, as Brooks continues to insist that he is fine to drive home. The breathalyser reading comes back as .108.

About 30 minutes into the interaction, Rolfe tells Brooks that he believes he is too drunk to operate a motor vehicle and that he is being placed under arrest. As the officers begin to handcuff him, Brooks begins to struggle, knocking the bodycamera to the ground. 

Little else is seen of the interaction, but the officers are heard shouting 'stop fighting, stop fighting,' a taser is heard being deployed, and three shots are heard seconds later.

Video from other angles has already shown that Brooks swung punches at the officers, stole a taser, and fled, turning to point what appears to be the stolen taser at Rolfe before Rolfe unholsters his gun and shoots Brooks.

More from the Daily Mail

A video clip filmed by a protester appeared to show a woman who is caucasian fanning the flames. 'Look at the white girl trying to set shit on fire,' the man recording the video can heard saying. 'Look at that white girl trying to burn down a Wendy's. This wasn't us, this wasn't us!' he shouts.