Top State Department official resigns in protest of Trump’s response to racial tensions in the country

A senior State Department official who has served in the Trump administration since its first day is resigning over President Trump’s recent handling of racial tensions across the country — saying that the president’s actions “cut sharply against my core values and convictions.”

Mary Elizabeth Taylor, the assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, submitted her resignation on Thursday. Taylor’s five-paragraph resignation letter, obtained by The Washington Post, serves as an indictment of Trump’s stewardship at a time of national unrest from one of the administration’s highest ranking African Americans and an aide who was viewed as both loyal and effective in serving his presidency.

“Moments of upheaval can change you, shift the trajectory of your life, and mold your character. The President’s comments and actions surrounding racial injustice and Black Americans cut sharply against my core values and convictions,” Taylor wrote in her resignation letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “I must follow the dictates of my conscience and resign as Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs.”

Taylor, 30, was unanimously confirmed to her position in October 2018 and is the youngest assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs in history and the first black woman to serve in that post.
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Taylor was viewed as a loyal member of the administration and is a lifelong member of the Republican Party. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/top-state-department-official-resigns-in-protest-of-trumps-response-to-racial-tensions-in-the-country/2020/06/18/e142e342-b181-11ea-a567-6172530208bd_story.html

The Atlanta police officer who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks was accused of covering up an earlier shooting he and other officers participated in, according to a judge who reviewed the case.

Garrett Rolfe was fired by the Atlanta police department following what officials called the “unjustified” killing of Brooks on Friday. Rolfe shot Brooks twice in the back as Brooks ran away after a scuffle with officers when they attempted to arrest him. It was among a recent spate of killings of black men by white police officers, which have ignited a national uprising against police brutality and racism.

In August 2015, Rolfe and two other officers opened fire on Jackie Jermaine Harris, who they chased after he was caught driving a stolen truck, the Guardian can reveal after reviewing court documents on the incident.

However, the shooting was not reported by the police involved. Harris, like Brooks, is African American.Harris rammed a police vehicle and officers shot at him several times inside the truck, striking Harris once and collapsing his lung. Harris survived and later pleaded guilty to charges including theft, property damage, fleeing arrest and damaging a police vehicle.

Judge Doris L Downs, during a 2016 court hearing, called the case a “disaster” and said “it’s the wildest case I’ve seen in my 34 years here.”

Downs said she was so troubled by officers failing to report the shooting that she wanted the matter investigated.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/17/rayshard-brooks-shooting-police-officer-cover-up-accusations-garrett-rolfe?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=twt_gu&utm_medium&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1592411069