Atlanta burns after another black death
ATLANTA: HOURS after police shot dead a black man who was reported for sleeping in his car at a Wendy’s drivethrough, Atlanta’s police chief resigned.
Authorities said the slain man had grabbed an officer’s Taser, but was running away when he was shot.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced the resignation of Police Chief Erika Shields as hundreds of protesters marched outside the Wendy’s restaurant where 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks was fatally shot. The building was later burnt down.
The mayor also said that she called for the immediate firing of the officer who opened fire at Mr Brooks.
“I do not believe this was a justified use of deadly force,” the mayor said.
Mayor Bottoms said it was Shields’ own decision to step aside as police chief and that she would remain with the city in an undetermined role.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), which is looking into the shooting, said the deadly confrontation started with officers responding to a complaint that a man was sleeping in a car blocking the Wendy’s drive-through lane. The GBI said Mr Brooks failed a breath test and then resisted officers’ attempts to arrest him.
Security camera footage shows a man running from two police officers as he raises a hand, which is holding some type of object, toward an officer a few steps behind him.
The officer draws his gun and fires as the man keeps running, then falls to the ground.
Shields, Atlanta’s police chief for less than four years, was initially praised in the days following George Floyd’s death last month. She said the Minnesota officers involved should go to prison and walked into crowds of protesters in downtown Atlanta, telling demonstrators she understood their frustrations and fears.
She appeared at Mayor Bottoms’ side as the mayor made an impassioned plea for protesters to go home when things turned violent with smashed storefronts and police cruisers set ablaze.
Among those protesting in Atlanta was Crystal Brooks, who said she was Rayshard Brooks’ sister-in-law.
“He wasn’t causing anyone any harm,” she said. “The police went up to the car and even though the car was parked they pulled him out of the car and started tussling with him.” She added: “He did grab the Taser, but he just grabbed the Taser and ran.”
Brooks’ death raised further questions about the Atlanta police department.
In a statement, Shields said she chose to resign “out of a deep and abiding love for this city and this department”.
“It is time for the city to move forward and build trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve,” Shields said.
GBI director Vic Reynolds said his agents had interviewed witnesses and reviewed video. He said their findings show that Brooks tried to fight off two officers when they tried to arrest him and at one point managed to take a Taser away from one of them.