Fired Atlanta police officer who shot Rayshard Brooks reinstated
Former Atlanta Police Department officer Garrett Rolfe, charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Rayshard Brooks, has been reinstated by the city’s Civil Service Board.
“Due to the City’s failure to comply with several provisions of the Code and the information received during witnesses’ testimony, the Board concludes the Appellant was not afforded his right to due process,” the board concluded. “Therefore, the Board grants the Appeal of Garrett Rolfe and revokes his dismissal as an employee of the APD.”
The ruling doesn’t mean Rolfe will be back on the streets. In fact, he won’t actually be allowed to return to work, as his bond prevents him from possessing a firearm or being around other officers, said attorney Lance LoRusso, who represented the 28-year-old officer in front of the civil service board.
“He’d essentially be on administrative leave pending the outcome of the charges against them,” LoRusso said.
Rolfe was fired last June one day after he shot Brooks in a Wendy’s parking lot. A scuffle followed after Brooks struck the other officer on the scene, Devin Brosnan, hard enough to cause a concussion, grabbed his Taser and aimed it at Rolfe, who then fired.
Brooks’ death led to widespread unrest in the city; the Wendy’s was torched and later razed.
Brooks’ attorneys are holding a press conference at 1 p.m. to respond to the board’s ruling.
Within a week, Rolfe was charged with felony murder by former Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard. Brosnan, who wasn’t fired, faces lesser charges including aggravated assault.
That case remains in limbo, however, as Howard’s successor, Fani Willis, has sought to recuse her office. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr denied Willis’ recusal, and a judge has yet to decide what happens next.
At Rolfe’s hearing two weeks, LoRusso argued his client was dismissed “without a proper investigation” by the city. It was revealed that then-Atlanta police chief Erika Shields did not sign Rolfe’s dismissal form. She stepped down as chief that same day, eventually resigning. Assistant Chief Todd Coyt signed the dismissal form in Shields’ place.
Coyt told the board he believed Rolfe and Brosnan “acted accordingly and … were trying to show compassion and did everything they could to calm the situation down.”
But Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was unequivocal, telling reporters the circumstances of Brooks’ death required immediate action.
“It is clear that we do not have another day, another minute, another hour to waste,” she said at the time.
That left Rolfe with no time to offer a defense, LoRusso argued. Atlanta Police Department Sgt. William Dean, an internal affairs investigator, testified that Rolfe’s hearing was scheduled to accommodate a 5 p.m. press conference by the mayor announcing Rolfe’s termination.
Rolfe testified he didn’t find out about his “employee response hearing” until 3:45 p.m. He was more than an hour outside the city at the time and said he feared for his safety, as video of Brooks’ shooting had been widely seen.
1 comment:
A sacrificial cop and public perceived justice at any cost.
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