Garrett Rolfe, the former Atlanta Police Department officer who shot and killed 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks in the parking lot of a local Wendy’s on June 12, has been charged with Brooks’ murder. Rolfe was fired from the force following the incident but has now been charged with felony murder along with 11 other criminal acts.
BREAKING: Garrett Rolfe, officer who shot and killed #RayshardBrooks, to be charged with 11 counts incl:
Felony Murder
Aggravated Assault w/ a Deadly WeaponMake no mistake, the swiftness of this investigation is the result of people marching and demanding accountability.
— Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) June 17, 2020
- Rayshard Brooks didn’t deserve to be murdered. According to Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard, Brooks “followed every instruction” and that he didn’t actually pose any real threat to the officers’ safety at any time. Body cam footage showed that Brooks was never even told he was being arrested and that he asked if he could walk home after he failed a sobriety test. Howard said that in the footage, Brooks appeared “almost jovial,” according to NBC News.
- Brooks did struggle when Rolfe put him in handcuffs. However, that was a whole 40 minutes after the incident began. Brooks also wrestled a taser from one of the officers which he shot behind him. It’s likely that he took the weapon so that it wouldn’t be used on him, not to use it on the officers. This is especially likely considering he tried to get away at the earliest opportunity rather than becoming more aggressive.
- Rolfe shot him Rayshard Brooks twice in the back as he ran away. This is clearly cold-blooded murder and in no way counts as self-defense. Why would you need to defend yourself from someone who is running away from you? Not only that, but both Rolfe and fellow officer Devin Brosnan failed to give Brooks any medical attention for more than two minutes, and Rolfe was even seeing kicking Brooks as he lay on the ground.
- It didn’t end there. “When we examined the videotape and in our discussions with witnesses, what we discovered is during the two minutes and 12 seconds, Officer Rolfe actually kicked Mr. Brooks while he laid on the ground, while he was there fighting for his life,” Howard revealed of the body cam footage. “Secondly, from the videotape, we were able to see that the other officer, Officer Brosnan, actually stood on Mr. Brooks’ shoulders while he was there struggling for his life.”
- Rolfe is now facing 11 charges and should be in prison for life. In addition to the felony murder charges against him, he’s also facing charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, criminal damage to property and violation of oath, among others. This should be enough to put him behind bars for life, where he belongs.
- Devin Brosnan will face charges too. Somehow he’s getting away with aggravated assault and violation of oath, likely because he’s acting as a state witness and presumably testifying against Rolfe.
