Protests Turn Turbulent Saturday Night In Atlanta

Associated Press, WABE News | WABE

June 13th, 2020

“RIP Rayshard” is spray painted on a sign as as flames engulf a Wendy’s restaurant during protests Saturday in Atlanta. The restaurant was where Rayshard Brooks was shot and killed by police Friday evening following a struggle in the restaurant’s drive-thru line.

Brynn Anderson / Associated Press

Updated Sunday at 12:43 p.m.

Protesters gathered on Saturday near the Wendy’s where Rayshard Brooks was shot and killed by an Atlanta police officer.

Police blocked the interstate ramp where the protesters were gathered, but some tried to get around the officers to get to the highway. The demonstrators eventually turned away.

There were reports of tear gas being deployed Saturday night. Protesters shut down I-75/I-85 in both directions and set fires outside the Wendy’s restaurant where Brooks was fatally shot the night before.

Garrett Rolfe, who was hired by APD in October 2013, was fired early Sunday over the shooting. Devin Brosnan, who was hired in September 2018, was placed on administrative duty, according to a release from police spokesperson Sgt. John Chafee.

Police also announced they arrested 36 people during protests overnight.

This comes as now-former police chief Erika Shields resigned from the post just 24 hours after the shooting.

Earlier Saturday, The Georgia Bureau of Investigation gave an update on their investigation into Brooks’ slaying.

The agency held a press conference where Vic Reynolds, GBI director, spoke about preliminary findings in a case that saw Brooks shot dead in the parking lot of a Wendy’s by an Atlanta Police Department officer.

The GBI released security camera video of the shooting Saturday. The footage shows a man running from two white police officers as he raises a hand, which is holding some type of object, toward an officer a few steps behind him. The officer draws his gun and fires as the man keeps running, then falls to the ground in the parking lot.

GBI Director Vic Reynolds said Brooks had grabbed a Taser from one of the officers and appeared to point it at the officer as he fled, prompting the officer to reach for his gun.

“In a circumstance like this where an officer is involved in the use of deadly force, the public has a right to know what happened,” GBI Director Vic Reynolds told a news conference on a day when protesters gathered at the scene of the shooting and in other areas of Atlanta.

The security camera video does not show Brooks’ initial struggle with police.

Not long after the GBI press conference Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced the resignation of police chief Erika Shields.

Earlier Saturday, GBI officials said APD officers were dispatched to the fast-food restaurant on University Avenue at around 10:30 p.m. Friday, where Brooks was parked in the drive-thru asleep. Officers say other customers had to drive around the vehicle, and they performed a sobriety test on Brooks.

Police blocked the interstate ramp where the protesters were gathered, but some tried to get around the officers to get to the highway.
Police blocked the interstate ramp where the protesters were gathered, but some tried to get around the officers to get to the highway. (Stephannie Stokes/WABE)

After Brooks failed a field sobriety test, the officers attempted to place him into custody, according to the GBI. But he resisted and a struggle ensued, leading the officer to deploy a Taser.

Demonstrators including members of Brooks’ family gathered Saturday outside the restaurant where he was shot. Police shut down streets for several blocks around the restaurant as protesters marched peacefully in the streets. Among those protesting was Crystal Brooks, who said she is Rayshard Brooks’ sister-in-law.

“He wasn’t causing anyone any harm,” she said. “The police went up to the car and even though the car was parked they pulled him out of the car and started tussling with him.”

She added: “He did grab the Taser, but he just grabbed the Taser and ran.”

*Graphic video below*

“Ultimately, when the officer used a Taser, it was ineffective for the suspect,” Atlanta Deputy Police Chief Timothy Peek told reporters at the scene Friday night. “It did not stop the aggression of the fight. And so the suspect was able to take the officer’s Taser from him.”

Peek said a second officer also attempted to use a Taser on the struggling man, “but it didn’t work against the suspect as well.”

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said Saturday his office had already gotten involved without waiting for the GBI to finish its investigation.

“My office has already launched an intense, independent investigation of the incident,” Howard said in a statement, saying members of his staff “were on scene shortly after the shooting, and we have been in investigative sessions ever since to identify all of the facts and circumstances surrounding this incident.”

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

“The killing of #RayshardBrooks in Atlanta last night demands we severely restrict the use of deadly force,” Abrams’ tweet said. “Yes, investigations must be called for — but so too should accountability.”

One officer was treated for an injury and discharged from the hospital. The officer involved in the shooting was not identified.

This comes as ongoing protests continue over police brutality and the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, as well as recent police killings that include Ahmaud Arbery and Breanna Taylor.

WABE producer Lily Oppenheimer, reporter Stephannie Stokes, and digital editor Maegan Smith contributed to this report.

For a deeper exploration of Ahmaud Arbery’s story, listen to WABE’s podcast, “Buried Truths.” Hosted by journalist, professor, and Pulitzer-prize-winning author Hank Klibanoff, season three of “Buried Truths” explores the Arbery murder and its direct ties to racially motivated murders of the past in Georgia.

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