The police chief of Atlanta has stepped down after a cop shot a black man last night. From the Associated Press:
Atlanta’s police chief resigned Saturday, less than 24 hours after a black man was killed by an Atlanta officer in a struggle following a field sobriety test.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced during a news conference that she had accepted the resignation of Police Chief Erika Shields.
Police were called to the restaurant on a complaint that a man was sleeping in a car blocking the drive-thru lane as customers waited in line, the GBI said. The agency identified the man who was fatally shot as 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks.
Here’s the surveillance video:
This one is tough – the guy is definitely resisting arrest and assaulting the police:
According to a statement from the Georgia Bureau of Investigations, police were called to the scene shortly after 10:30 p.m. because Brooks’ car was blocking other drivers. The GBI said Brooks failed a field sobriety test, after which officers attempted to arrest him.
Investigators said Brooks “resisted” arrest and “a struggle ensued,” during which an officer deployed a Taser.
At a Saturday press conference, GBI director Vic Reynolds said that Brooks was able to obtain a Taser from an officer before breaking free and running away. Reynolds said surveillance video from the Wendy’s showed that Brooks ran about six parking spaces away.
“At that point, [Brooks] turns around and it appears to the eye that he points the Taser at the Atlanta officer,” Reynolds said, adding that Brooks had started to turn back around to flee as the officer reached for his weapon, and that’s when the shot was fired.
Cellphone footage that appears to be from the scene, shared on Twitter, shows Brooks engaged in a struggle with two officers on the ground before running away. Two officers chase after him outside the frame, and the sound of three gunshots being fired can be heard.
I mean, he grabbed the taser and became a threat to the cops. Are they justified in killing him here? I’m not sure, especially since he was running away. It’s not as if they were arresting him for murder, he was just sleeping in a Wendys. No matter what any of us think, there are already protests underway in Atlanta…