The Atlanta officer who shot Rayshard Brooks has been charged with felony murder, it was announced at a press conference held by Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard.
27-year-old Garret Rolfe has also been charged on several counts of aggravated assault, including seven violations of oath each carrying sentences of 1 to 5 years.
Attorney Howard then revealed that 26-year-old Devin Brosnan, a fellow officer, has agreed to testify against the former cop.
Brosnan, the first to respond to a 911 call that reported the father-of-four drunk and asleep inside his vehicle in the drive-thru lane of a fast-food restaurant in Atlanta, has been charged on three counts, one of aggravated assault and two violations of oath.
Howard said that Brosnan had admitted to standing on the victim’s shoulders as he lay dying. The attorney asked for no bond for Rolfe and a $50,000 bond for Brosnan.
Atty. Howard said the investigation had taken into account both former officer’s dashcam and bodycam footage, civilian cellphone footage, Wendy’s CCTV footage, and eyewitnesses.
“Once Mr Brooks was shot there is an Atlanta policy that requires that the officers have to provide timely medical attention,” Howard said. “But after Mr Brooks was shot for 2 minutes and 12 seconds there was no medical attention applied to Mr Brooks.”
“What we discovered is during the 2 minutes and 12 seconds that officer Rolfe kicked Mr Brooks while he laid on the ground fighting for his life.
“The other officer, officer Brosnan stood on Mr Brooks’s shoulders while he was there struggling for his life.”
Howard concluded: “Based on the way these officers conducted themselves that the demeanor immediately after the shooting did not reflect any fear or danger but reflected other kinds of emotion.”
Attorney Chris Stewart also praised the courageous decision of Brosnan to ‘step forward and say, ‘this is wrong.’
“This is not a day of joy because it shouldn’t have happened. This is heartbreaking but it is an attempt to redefine justice because we don’t have any idea what it looks like in this world anymore.”
According to Daily Mail, Brooks was on probation and faced going back to jail if charged with a DUI. After he failed field sobriety tests, it was the fear of imprisonment that likely caused the father-of-four to panic and run.
In the bodycam footage obtained by the news outlet, Rolfe administered CPR to the bleeding man until emergency services arrived. He can also be heard saying “Mr. Brooks keep breathing. Keep breathing for me” as he tried to keep him alive.
Daily Mail also reported that Rolfe has since told his friends that he didn’t want to shoot but did so as he feared that Brooks might kill him.
In an interview with Daily Mail, a friend close to Rolfe said: “Garret didn’t want to do it. He had been punched and was dazed. Brooks had gone to tase him and he said that he knew that if he went down Brooks might kill him.”
A source also said: “He told me he fired a shot up above his (Brooks’s) head but he didn’t stop and so he fired twice more. He didn’t want to do it. There’s no hate in Garrett’s body. He doesn’t hate black. He doesn’t hate white. In that moment he was in fear for his life.”
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments section and SHARE this story with your friends and family!
Replaced!