The police-involved shooting of a black man at Wendy’s in Atlanta, Rayshard Brooks, has captured the attention of mainstream media and “peaceful” protesters in Atlanta and the nation. The incident comes on the heels of worldwide protests against police brutality sparked by the shooting of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Let’s Start From The Top
Officers were called to the Wendy’s in question late Friday night due to a sleeping man in the drive-thru lane. The man was Rayshard Brooks. Customers had to drive around him in order to pick up their food. When the police arrived, they knocked on the Brook’s driver’s side car window to wake him up. He wakes up and they instruct him to pull out of the drive-thru lane and to the side parking space.
The police talk to Brooks for a good half-hour to 45 minutes. They ask him myriad of questions about how he got to Wendy’s, who drove, if he had been drinking, and more. At a certain point, they ask him if he will take a field sobriety test, which he does. Then he takes a breathalyzer test. It was revealed later that he failed the test, which was pretty obvious from the conversation he had with the officers.
He was most likely very drunk and driving, which is totally illegal. Even if he was just parked in the car, but behind the wheel, that is illegal. And of course, there was clear evidence that he had been driving the car before it was stopped in the drive-thru lane. Because there is no other way for the vehicle to get there other than Brooks driving it.
How Did The Battle Begin?
Police then attempt to place Mr. Brooks under arrest. He immediately resists and begins to fight both of the officers on the scene. Several camera angles, including the officer’s body-worn camera, show the fight. A Wendy’s drive-thru customer captured an angle of the fight that showed Brooks violently punching at least one officer in the face and also stealing his taser.
One of the officers attempts to tase Brooks at a certain point in the ground scuffle and it fails. Then the foot chase begins. Brooks is running ahead of the other officers who are running behind him. Brooks still has the taser he stole from the officers in his hand. He turns around and fires the taser at the officer and the officer returns fire, killing Brooks.
Protests almost instantly broke out at the Wendy’s once news of the officer-involved reached the general public. Someone burned the restaurant down and the nearby BP gas station nearly caught on fire and exploded as well. The so-called “peaceful protesters” blocked traffic on interstate 75 and also traffic on the street leading to the Wendy’s. The Atlanta Fire Department could not reach the Wendy’s in time to extinguish the flames due to the blockage.
Local Politics Ruin Policing
Cries for police reform amid police brutality are like battle cries at this point. Keisha Lance-Bottoms, the mayor of Atlanta, appears to have an axe to grind against officers. Although the men handled themselves very well and did everything possible to treat Mr. Brooks with respect, she called for their termination. The Police Chief, 20-year-APD veteran Erika Shields, resigned. A clear reason for her resignation is not clear, but one doesn’t have to scratch their head too hard to figure out why.
Just a few weeks ago, Atlanta officers were fired and/or brought up on charges at the behest of the Mayor and District Attorney for using a taser against college students. They were charged with aggravated assault and the DA argued that the taser is a deadly weapon. So if the taser is a deadly weapon according to the DA, and according to Georgia Law, then why is it wrong for an officer to shoot a suspect who fires a taser at them?
Much of the internal workings of this situation are politically motivated. Pure and simple. And the end result won’t be “better” police. It will be LESS police and less effective police. If Keisha Lance-Bottoms wants a more dangerous Atlanta, then she’s most certainly on the right track. If not, then she needs to do some serious soul searching. Because the path she’s on only has one end-goal and anyone with a pair of functioning eyes and a brain can see it.
SOURCES:
Rayshard Brooks shooting: Atlanta police chief resigns
Atlanta police chief steps down after black man shot and killed by an officer – CNN
Autopsy finds Rayshard Brooks died of gunshot wounds of the back
Videos of Wendy’s arson suspect in Atlanta | 11alive.com
Is it a Defense To Your Georgia DUI To Pull Over and Sleep Until Sober? | Georgia DUI Lawyer
Ex-NYPD commish Bernie Kerik on Atlanta shooting: Tell ‘thugs’ to not ‘attack our police’ | Fox News
Georgia Code Title 16. Crimes and Offenses § 16-11-106 | FindLaw
Atlanta police shooting of black man was a homicide, coroner says – Reuters
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