Wife calls for officers to go to jail after man’s fatal shooting
The wife of Rayshard Brooks, a black man fatally shot by police in Atlanta last Friday, is calling for the officers involved with his death to be put behind bars.
Tomika Miller told “CBS This Morning” that the officers “need to be put away.”
“I want them to go to jail,” Miller said during a prerecorded interview for Monday’s show. “I want them to deal with the same thing as if it was my husband who killed someone else. If it was my husband who shot them, he would be in jail. He would be doing a life sentence.”
Officer Garrett Rolfe, who shot Brooks, was fired over the weekend, while his partner, Devin Bronsan, was put on administrative duty.
Brooks’ death has been ruled a homicide, with the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office saying he suffered two shots to the back.
Authorities say the officers had responded to a report of a man sleeping in his car outside a Wendy’s restaurant. Brooks, who was 27, failed a sobriety test, according to officials, and got involved in a struggle with officers.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said video indicates Brooks obtained one of the officers’ Tasers and fled.
“Officers pursued Brooks on foot and during the chase, Brooks turned and pointed the Taser at the officer,” the GBI said in a statement. “The officer fired his weapon, striking Brooks.”
Miller told “CBS This Morning” that the other officer should have told his partner to calm down.
“All of them need to be sentenced the same way,” Miller said.
Brooks’ death occurred less than three weeks after George Floyd, an unarmed black man, was killed in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.
Massive protests against racial injustice throughout the United States and beyond followed Floyd’s death.
“Rayshard Brooks is everybody. Just like George is everybody. We are all the people. We are all God’s children,” Miller told CBS.
“We should feel the pain of those who lost their life to senselessness over authority being taken way overboard.”
Police Chief Erika Shields resigned following Brooks’ death.
Brooks was the father of four children who ranged in age from 1 year old to 13, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He had planned to take his daughter skating on Saturday on what was her eighth birthday.