Police had been called on Rayshard Brooks for falling asleep
in a car blocking the drive-through lane of a restaurant.
Demonstrators have taken to the streets in Atlanta in protest
against the fatal shooting by police of a Black man who had fallen
asleep in his car while waiting in line at a fast food
drive-through south of downtown.
The Friday night incident comes at a time of heightened tension
over police brutality and calls for reforms across the United
States following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis
after a police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine
minutes.
Police had been called on 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks for
sleeping in a car blocking the drive-through lane of a Wendy’s
restaurant on Friday night. After Brooks failed a field sobriety
test, the officers attempted to place him into custody, according
to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI), an independent
agency that has been asked by the Atlanta Police Department to
investigate the killing.
According to the GBI, Brooks resisted arrest and a struggle
ensued, leading an officer to deploy a Taser.
When the Taser did not work, Brooks reportedly tried to take it
from the officer. A second officer then tried to use a Taser on
Brooks, but it had no effect, Atlanta Deputy Police Chief Timothy
Peek told reporters after the incident. During the tussle, Brooks
was shot and later died at a local hospital.
The GBI said in a statement it was investigating reports “that
the male subject was shot by an officer in the struggle over the
Taser”.
A crowd of demonstrators gathered at the scene of the shooting
on Saturday.
The president of the Georgia NAACP, the Reverend James Woodall,
has called for the firing of Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields,
according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper.
The GBI said it was reviewing video footage of the incident
taken by witnesses. That video, which was posted on social media,
shows Brooks on the ground outside his car, struggling with two
police officers. The shooting later occurs out of frame.
Atlanta was among many large US cities where large crowds of
protesters have taken to the streets in recent days.
‘People are upset’
Gerald Griggs, a lawyer and vice president of Atlanta’s NAACP
chapter, estimated there were 150 people protesting at the scene as
he walked with them on Saturday afternoon.
“The people are upset,” Griggs said. “They want to know why
their dear brother Rayshard Brooks was shot and killed when he was
merely asleep on the passenger side and not doing anything.”
Even though Brooks struggled with officers, Griggs said, “they
could have used nonlethal force to take him down”.
Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said his office has
also “launched an intense, independent investigation of the
incident”.
Stacey Abrams, the Georgia Democrat who gained national
prominence running for governor in 2018, tweeted on Saturday of the
shooting that “sleeping in a drive-thru must not end in death”.
“The killing of #RayshardBrooks in Atlanta last night demands we
severely restrict the use of deadly force,” Abrams’s tweet said.
“Yes, investigations must be called for – but so too should
accountability.”
The officers involved in the shooting were not immediately
identified.
Police had been called on Rayshard Brooks for falling asleep
in a car blocking the drive-through lane of a restaurant.
Demonstrators have taken to the streets in Atlanta in protest
against the fatal shooting by police of a Black man who had fallen
asleep in his car while waiting in line at a fast food
drive-through south of downtown.
The Friday night incident comes at a time of heightened tension
over police brutality and calls for reforms across the United
States following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis
after a police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine
minutes.
Police had been called on 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks for
sleeping in a car blocking the drive-through lane of a Wendy’s
restaurant on Friday night. After Brooks failed a field sobriety
test, the officers attempted to place him into custody, according
to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI), an independent
agency that has been asked by the Atlanta Police Department to
investigate the killing.
According to the GBI, Brooks resisted arrest and a struggle
ensued, leading an officer to deploy a Taser.
When the Taser did not work, Brooks reportedly tried to take it
from the officer. A second officer then tried to use a Taser on
Brooks, but it had no effect, Atlanta Deputy Police Chief Timothy
Peek told reporters after the incident. During the tussle, Brooks
was shot and later died at a local hospital.
The GBI said in a statement it was investigating reports “that
the male subject was shot by an officer in the struggle over the
Taser”.
A crowd of demonstrators gathered at the scene of the shooting
on Saturday.
The president of the Georgia NAACP, the Reverend James Woodall,
has called for the firing of Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields,
according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper.
The GBI said it was reviewing video footage of the incident
taken by witnesses. That video, which was posted on social media,
shows Brooks on the ground outside his car, struggling with two
police officers. The shooting later occurs out of frame.
Atlanta was among many large US cities where large crowds of
protesters have taken to the streets in recent days.
‘People are upset’
Gerald Griggs, a lawyer and vice president of Atlanta’s NAACP
chapter, estimated there were 150 people protesting at the scene as
he walked with them on Saturday afternoon.
“The people are upset,” Griggs said. “They want to know why
their dear brother Rayshard Brooks was shot and killed when he was
merely asleep on the passenger side and not doing anything.”
Even though Brooks struggled with officers, Griggs said, “they
could have used nonlethal force to take him down”.
Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said his office has
also “launched an intense, independent investigation of the
incident”.
Stacey Abrams, the Georgia Democrat who gained national
prominence running for governor in 2018, tweeted on Saturday of the
shooting that “sleeping in a drive-thru must not end in death”.
“The killing of #RayshardBrooks in Atlanta last night demands we
severely restrict the use of deadly force,” Abrams’s tweet said.
“Yes, investigations must be called for – but so too should
accountability.”
The officers involved in the shooting were not immediately
identified.