Atlanta to pay $1M settlement to family of Rayshard Brooks

The Atlanta City Council on Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, voted to approve a $1 million settlement payment for the family oThis screen grab taken from body camera video provided by the Atlanta Police Department shows Rayshard Brooks, right, as he speaks with Officer Garrett Rolfe in the parking lot of a Wendy's restaurant in Atlanta, on June 12, 2020. Brooks, who was shot and killed following a confrontation with two white police officers in June 2020. (Atlanta Police Department via AP)

The Atlanta City Council on Monday voted to approve a $1 million settlement payment for the family of Rayshard Brooks, who was shot and killed by a police officer.

Brooks, a 27-year-old Black man, was shot following a confrontation with two white police officers in June 2020. The shooting came just weeks after the death of George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. It sparked a new wave of demonstrations in Atlanta against police brutality and racial injustice.

A special prosecutor appointed to consider the case announced in August that the use of deadly force was “objectively reasonable.” Pete Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, said he would not pursue charges against Officer Garrett Rolfe, who shot Brooks, and Officer Devin Brosnan.