A charred Wendy’s, an officer fired and a police chief steps down in the aftermath of Rayshard Brooks’ death
The officer who shot and killed Brooks was terminated Saturday, police spokesman Carlos Campos told CNN. He was identified as Garrett Rolfe, according to a police news release. A second officer involved in the killing was placed on administrative duty, Campos said. That officer was Devin Bronsan, the release says.
Rolfe was hired in 2013 and Bronsan has been with the department since 2018, police said.
Brooks’ fatal shooting comes about three weeks after George Floyd’s death sparked global demonstrations that decried police brutality and racism. Floyd died after pleading for his life while a Minneapolis officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Atlanta protests have remained ongoing since.
“So we’ve reached this point where the people have simply experienced too much.”
Protests in Atlanta Saturday
Tensions in Atlanta escalated Saturday night, CNN’s Natasha Chen reported, when larger crowds began to gather in the area surrounding the Wendy’s and some individuals began breaking the store’s glass.
A person holds a sign as a Wendy’s restaurant burns Saturday in Atlanta
A major interstate was also shut down after protesters marched onto a connector and were met by lined up police vehicles.
A large crowd remained on the streets of southwest Atlanta into the early Sunday morning hours, the news station said, facing off with police.
“I was very disturbed with what happened,” protester Marquavian Odom told CNN Saturday. “This is something that keeps happening over and over again. We’ve been protesting about George Floyd and I thought there was going to be a change, but there wasn’t a change, it was still the same old thing.”
“I thought the message was clear, but obviously we’re still not heard.”
The Wendy’s where an unarmed black man was shot and killed Friday was set ablaze the next day
The fatal shooting
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation kicked off an investigation into the incident at the request of the Atlanta Police Department, officials said Saturday.
Once that investigation is completed, the case will be turned over to prosecutors.
Police responded to a call Friday night about a man sleeping in a parked vehicle in the restaurant’s drive-thru lane, causing other customers to drive around it, the GBI said in a statement. When they arrived, police gave Brooks a sobriety test, which he failed.
He resisted arrest and struggled with the officers grabbing a Taser, the agency’s statement said. A video from an eyewitness captured that struggle. The video, shot from a cell phone, shows a scuffle between two officers and Brooks. Brooks eventually seems to break free and starts running away.
Surveillance video provided by the GBI shows Brooks running from the officers and appears to point the stun gun in their direction before falling to the ground.
He was shot and taken to the hospital, where he died, the GBI says. An officer was treated for an injury and released.
Protests ongoing in other parts of the US
Meanwhile, as crowds infuriated by Brooks’ death marched in Atlanta, hundreds of others were on the streets in other parts of the country protesting police brutality.
In Washington, DC, a group of peaceful protesters marched through the city and onto a highway running to Northern Virginia. The march was one of a few that took place throughout Saturday in Washington.
In New Orleans, protesters Saturday tore down a statue of merchant and slave owner John McDonogh, dumping it into the Mississippi River. In a statement, the city’s mayor condemned the move, saying destruction of city property is unlawful.
In Montpelier, Vermont’s capital city, dozens of volunteers painted a Black Lives Matter mural in front of the statehouse.
CNN’s Artemis Moshtaghian, Alex Medeiros, Melissa Alonso and Amir Vera contributed to this report.
