MORROW, Ga. — A specifically appointed prosecutor introduced Tuesday that he is not going to pursue expenses towards the 2 white Atlanta law enforcement officials who clashed with Rayshard Brooks throughout a 2020 encounter that ended with the 27-year-old Black man’s deadly taking pictures.
Pete Skandalakis, govt director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, stated he believes Officer Garrett Rolfe, who shot and killed Brooks in June 2020, acted appropriately. He additionally stated the second officer concerned within the encounter, Officer Devin Brosnan, is not going to be charged.
“Given the rapidly altering circumstances, was it objectively affordable that he used lethal pressure and we conclude it was,” Skandalakis stated.
Skandalakis was appointed final 12 months to take over the case after a choose allowed Fulton County District Legal professional Fani Willis to recuse herself and her workplace. Willis had cited considerations in regards to the actions of her predecessor, who introduced a homicide cost towards Rolfe lower than per week after the taking pictures.
Police responded on June 12, 2020, to complaints of a person sleeping in a automobile within the drive-thru lane of a Wendy’s restaurant. Police physique digital camera video exhibits the 2 officers having a peaceful dialog with Brooks for practically 40 minutes.
Then, when the officers advised Brooks he’d had an excessive amount of to drink to be driving and tried to arrest him, Brooks resisted in a battle caught on sprint digital camera video. Brooks grabbed a Taser from one of many officers and fled, firing it at Rolfe as he ran. Rolfe fired his gun, and an post-mortem discovered that Brooks was shot twice within the again.
The 2 officers’ legal professionals have stated their actions have been justified and each have been launched on bond.
The taking pictures occurred towards the backdrop of heightened tensions and protests nationwide in wake of the dying of George Floyd beneath the knee of a police officer in Minneapolis lower than three weeks earlier.
Typically-violent protests over Floyd’s dying had largely subsided in Atlanta, however Brooks’ killing set off a brand new spherical of demonstrations towards police brutality. Police Chief Erika Shields resigned lower than 24 hours after Brooks died. Protesters set fireplace to the Wendy’s restaurant, which was later demolished.
Skandalakis stated he believes that context had an affect on how the occasions unfolded and acknowledged that encounters between police and the African American neighborhood are generally “very unstable,” however he stated he does not consider race performed a job on this occasion.
“This is not a kind of instances,” he stated. “This can be a case by which the officers have been keen to provide Mr. Brooks each good thing about the doubt and, you already know, sadly, by his actions, that is what occurred.”
Skandalakis and former Gwinnett County District Legal professional Danny Porter, who was co-counsel within the case, spent about an hour in the course of the information convention strolling via the small print of the encounter between Brooks and the 2 officers. Porter confirmed nonetheless photos taken from movies to interrupt down what occurred as soon as issues turned violent.
Skandalakis known as it “a peaceable encounter that unexpectedly turns into a violent encounter,” saying that when Brooks took the Taser from Brosnan, he assumed an offensive place.
Porter stated Brooks had already overpowered two officers and violently introduced them to the bottom and Rolfe acted in accordance with Georgia regulation and Atlanta Police Division coverage given the information of the scenario.
Rolfe was fired a day after the taking pictures, however his dismissal was overturned in Could 2021 by the Atlanta Civil Service Board. The board discovered that town didn’t comply with its personal procedures for disciplinary actions.
5 days after Brooks was killed, then-Fulton County District Legal professional Paul Howard held a dramatic information convention to announce warrants had been taken out towards Rolfe and Brosnan. Rolfe’s expenses included felony homicide, aggravated assault and violation of his oath. Brosnan was charged with aggravated assault and violating his oath.
Skandalakis stated Tuesday that he would file paperwork to dismiss these warrants.
Two months after he introduced the fees, Howard misplaced the Democratic main in his bid for reelection. Simply weeks after taking workplace in January 2021, his successor, Fani Willis, requested Georgia Legal professional Normal Chris Carr to reassign the case.
Willis, who has since gained nationwide consideration for her ongoing investigation into whether or not former President Donald Trump and others illegally tried to affect the end result of the 2020 election in Georgia, cited considerations about Howard’s actions.
Noah Pines, an legal professional for Rolfe, had additionally filed a movement to disqualify the Fulton County district legal professional’s workplace from the case.
Carr initially refused to reassign the case, however in July 2021 appointed Skandalakis to take it over after Fulton County Superior Court docket Chief Decide Christopher Brasher discovered there was a battle of curiosity and granted a request from Willis to recuse her workplace.
