Atlanta officer fired after fatal shooting of black man

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By RUSS BYNUM and BRYNN ANDERSON

ATLANTA (AP) — An Atlanta police officer was fired following the fatal shooting of a black man and another officer was placed on administrative duty, the police department announced early Sunday.

The moves follows the Saturday resignation of Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields, who stepped down as the Friday night killing of Rayshard Brooks, 27, sparked a new wave of protests in Atlanta after turbulent demonstrations following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police had simmered down.

The terminated officer was identified as Garrett Rolfe, who was hired in October 2013, and the officer placed on administrative duty is Devin Brosnan, who was hired in September 2018, according to a release from police spokesperson Sgt. John Chafee.

The police department also released body camera and dash camera footage from both officers.



This screen grab taken from body camera video provided by the Atlanta Police Department shows Rayshard Brooks speaking with Officer Garrett Rolfe in the parking lot of a Wendy's restaurant, late Friday, June 12, 2020, in Atlanta. Rolfe has been fired following the fatal shooting of Brooks and a second officer has been placed on administrative duty. (Atlanta Police Department via AP)


Read more: https://apnews.com/e5741e6b7d1a3c9be991201d21b90e13

[zanana1]

1. Fired? That's it?

Another murderer goes free.

[louzke9]

6. YOU DO KNOW WHY!

Because...that's it. That is all the police can do. Now it is up to the District Attorney to DECIDE whether to press charges.

[secondwind]

2. There better be more than just a firing.

[FarPoint]

3. I now am convinced we will need to Protest daily..

Protest daily for many, many months... These cops murdered a man the same week we laid George Floyd to rest! The racist infested cop mentality lacks even a hint of critical thinking skills...One would think they would at least try and reel in the arrogance...

[louzke9]

7. WHY WOULD THEY WHEN.....

Bad Laws protect police, give them immense latitude to use lethal force. Until we FOCUS on REFORMING bad laws, incidents like this WILL CONTINUE. This is where the problem starts. The "irrational" response to this however, was to burn down the Wendy's. Now a business serving the community is gone, employees out of work and businessman lost his business.

https://www.vox.com/identities/2016/8/13/17938226/police-shootings-killings-law-legal-standard-garner-graham-connor

[dlk]

4. Our police forces have been militarized and are regularly executing our citizens

This is not a democracy. Until we take collective and continuous action at the polls, this situation will only increase in frequency and intensity.

[louzke9]

8. YES!

Our lawmakers are responsible for giving police their immense powers. These lousy lawmakers were voted into office. Voting at ALL LEVELS is critical in selecting representatives that will serve OUR NEEDS and will fight for social justice. People don't like hearing this but even the ACLU warns citizens how to act when confronted by police. The ACLU warns at that time fully cooperate, don't resist arrest or try to flee. You will have ample time to defend yourself later. Opinions about this incident are moot as long as laws give police the power to shoot anyone perceived as a danger. As much as we are OUTRAGED over this shooting laws give police the legal right to shoot people. Until we wake up and face that REALITY, police shootings will continue. Oh, and I'm NOT DEFENDING the police, just stating the facts as they currently are.

[KS Toronado]

5. They should have arrested him one second after firing him

[Dan]

9. After reading some of the posts below, and having viewed the video

I'm curious, if you were the LEO, tell me what would you have done - given the situation. And please, start from the moment that the gentleman identified that he had been drinking and was in control of a motor vehicle. Just curious.