Atlanta Officer Who Shot Rayshard Brooks Reinstated, On Administrative Leave
Garrett Rolfe’s attorney said that his client didn’t get a chance to defend himself before he was fired for fatally shooting Rayshard Brooks, a Black man who had been running away from two white officers after he resisted arrest and fired a stun gun at one of them.
(Atlanta Police Department via AP, File)
A civil service board in Atlanta has reinstated a former police officer who was fired after shooting and killing a man in a Wendy’s parking lot. The board found officer Garrett Rolfe should have had the right to appeal.
Rolfe, who is white, shot and killed a 27-year-old Black man named Rayshard Brooks while trying to arrest him for falling asleep in a Wendy’s drive-through.
The 2020 killing happened amidst nationwide, tumultuous protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The Atlanta Wendy’s where Rolfe shot Brooks was lit on fire by protestors.
Rolfe was quickly fired and charged with felony murder. However, he’s since argued the city didn’t give him full due process to appeal his firing—and Atlanta’s civil service board just agreed.
The Atlanta Police Department says Rolfe will be on administrative leave until his criminal charges are resolved. That case has slowed to a halt as the newly-elected District Attorney Fani Willis has tried to recuse herself from prosecuting it.
Related
Top Stories
