Atlanta police call out sick to protest charges in shooting
Chief: ‘We will get through this’
ATLANTA — Atlanta police officers called out sick or refused to answer calls Thursday to protest the filing of murder charges against an officer who shot a man in the back, while the interim chief said members of the force feel abandoned amid protests demanding massive changes to policing.
Interim Chief Rodney Bryant told the Associated Press in an interview that the sick calls began Wednesday night and continued Thursday, but said the department has enough staff to protect the city. It’s not clear how many officers have called out.
“Some are angry. Some are fearful. Some are confused on what we do in this space. Some may feel abandoned,” Bryant said of the officers. “But we are there to assure them that we will … get through this.”
Prosecutors brought felony murder and other charges against Garrett Rolfe, the white officer who shot Rayshard Brooks after the 27-year-old black man grabbed a Taser and ran, firing it at the officer, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said.
Howard said that Brooks was not a deadly threat at the time, and that the officer kicked the wounded black man and offered no medical treatment for over two minutes as he lay dying. Another officer, Devin Brosnan, who the district attorney said stood on Brooks’ shoulder as he struggled for his life, was charged with aggravated assault and violation of his oath.
Rolfe and Brosnan turned themselves in Thursday. Jail records show Brosnan was released on a $30,000 signature bond, meaning he has to pay only if he fails to show up for court; Rolfe was being held without bond.
Less than 24 hours after Friday’s shooting, police chief Erika Shields resigned and Bryant took over on an interim basis.
Bryant wore a navy blue, rather than the typcial white, shirt Thursday to show solidarity with the officers.
“This is the uniform that the men and women of the police department wear, and I felt that it was important that they have an understanding that we are one organization, and we will dress as one organization,” he said.
In the roughly three weeks since protests first broke out in Georgia’s capital after George Floyd was killed by police in Minnesota, officers have worked shifts of 12 or more hours, and have been yelled at, spit on and had things thrown at them, Bryant said.
“At some point, people get tired … ,” he said. “But … I’m certain that we will see our sick-outs drop back to normal, average.”