Prosecutor to Dismiss Charges against Atlanta Cops in Rayshard Brooks Shooting Case
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A Georgia special prosecutor said Tuesday that he will dismiss the charges against two accused Atlanta cops in the shooting case of Rayshard Brooks dating back to summer 2020.
Special prosecutor Peter Skandalakis determined that the pair acted appropriately in using deadly force when they had a threatening encounter with Brooks that involved him brandishing a weapon.
“Both acted as reasonable officers would under the facts and circumstances of the events of that night,” Skandalakis said. “Both acted in accordance with well-established law and were justified in the use of force regarding the situation.”
In June 2020, police officers Garrett Rolfe and Devin Brosnan confronted Brooks, a 27-year-old black man, at an Atlanta Wendy’s, where employees complained he was sleeping while blocking the drive-thru. After the officers attempted to arrest Brooks for a DUI, Brooks tried to escape with a taser from one of the officers. As he ran away, he turned around and fired the stolen taser at Rolfe, who then fatally shot Brooks in the back and buttocks.
While Rolfe was charged with felony murder, aggravated assault, violations of oath of office and criminal damage to property, Brosnan was charged with aggravated assault and violating his oath. Brosnan testified as a “state’s witness” against Rolfe. Had he been convicted, Rolfe would have faced either life in prison or the death penalty.
The incident happened less than three weeks after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which triggered a wave of racial justice riots, marked by looting and arson, across multiple major cities in summer 2o20. The Wendy’s where Brooks was killed was burned to the ground by an angry mob during protests over his death.
During a press conference Tuesday, Skandalakis and former Gwinnett County District Attorney Daniel Porter showed a video of the confrontation to illustrate that Rolfe fired his gun in response to Brooks’ firing of the taser, a deadly weapon.
“Was it objectively reasonable that (Rolfe) can use deadly force? We determined it was,” Skandalakis said, adding that prosecutors found that Brook’s behavior was not fueled by racial animus but a self-defense reaction permitted under police code. It was confirmed that Brooks violently resisted arrest
After the shooting, Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms quickly condemned Rolfe and called for his removal.
“I do not believe that this was a justified use of deadly force and have called for the immediate termination of the officer,” she said at a press briefing in the immediate aftermath. A number of Atlanta police officers walked off the job in protest of the murder charges brought against Rolfe.
Stacey Abrams, former and now current Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate, also jumped to conclusions, suggesting that Rolfe was in the wrong to use deadly force to thwart Brooks.
“The killing of #RayshardBrooks in Atlanta last night demands we severely restrict the use of deadly force. Yes, investigations must be called for – but so too should accountability,” she tweeted in 2020. “Sleeping in a drive-thru must not end in death.”
“Black lives do matter,” Skandalakis said. “I understand that the encounters between police and the African American community at times are very volatile. But I would ask them to look at the facts of this case, and this isn’t one of those cases. This is a case in which the officers were willing to give Mr. Brooks every benefit of the doubt and unfortunately, by his actions, this is what happened.”
