City Of Atlanta Brings Back Officer Fired Last Summer Who Shot Rayshard Brooks

The Civil Service Board of Atlanta reported on Tuesday morning that police officer Garrett Rolfe, who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks last summer, has been reinstated after the city neglected to provide Rolfe with due process.

The City of Atlanta Civil Service Board stated their reasoning for the decision as:

“Due to the City’s failure to comply with several provisions of the Code and the information received during witnesses’ testimony, the Board concludes the Appellant was not afforded his right to due process. Therefore, the Board GRANTS the Appeal of Garrett Rolfe and revokes his
dismissal as an employee of the APD.”

Brooks attacked Rolfe and another police officer who were attempting to apprehend him in the parking lot of a Wendy’s restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia, last June, and Rolfe shot and killed him.

“Police were called to a Wendy’s restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia, because Brooks, 27, had fallen asleep behind the wheel of a car while in the drive-through, which was disrupting the movement of vehicles that were in line. The interaction between the police and Brooks was mostly calm until the attempted arrest following his breathalyzer, which showed that he was driving while drunk,” according to reports in June 2020.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said at the time that videos from the incident “indicate that during a physical struggle with officers, Brooks obtained one of the officers’ Tasers and began to flee from the scene. Officers pursued Brooks on foot and during the chase, Brooks turned and pointed the Taser at the officer. The officer fired his weapon, striking Brooks.”

Brooks was shot by a police officer who was chasing him, according to the New York Times, after Brooks “looks behind him, points the Taser he is holding in Officer Rolfe’s direction, and fires it.”

Watch the bodycam footage of the Rayshard Brooks’ incident below: