‘Pleading for change’: Family of black man killed in Atlanta demands justice, urges protesters to refrain from violence.
ATLANTA — Pleading through grief and tears Monday, the family of a black man killed by Atlanta police outside a restaurant called on protesters to refrain from violence and demanded changes in the criminal justice system to prevent such deaths.
An autopsy found that 27yearold Rayshard Brooks was shot twice in the back late Friday by an officer trying to arrest him for being intoxicated behind the wheel of his car. Brooks tried to flee after wrestling with officers and grabbing a Taser from one of them.
“Not only are we hurt, we are angry,” said Chassidy Evans, Brooks’ niece. “When does it stop? We’re not only pleading for justice. We’re pleading for change.”
About 20 of Brooks’ children, siblings, cousins and other family members sobbed openly at a news conference as more than 1,000 people gathered not far away for an NAACPled protest outside the Georgia Capitol.
The killing has rekindled protests in Atlanta that erupted in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. The Wendy’s restaurant where Brooks was shot was burned down over the weekend.
Evans said there was no reason for her uncle “to be shot and killed like trash in the street for falling asleep in a drivethrough.”
“Rayshard has a family who loves him who would have gladly come and got him so he would be here with us today,” she said.
Relatives described Brooks as a loving father of three daughters and a stepson. His oldest daughter learned her father was slain while celebrating her eighth birthday, wearing a special dress as she waited for Brooks to take her skating, said Justin Miller, an attorney for the family.
“I can never get my husband back,” said Tomika Miller, Brooks’ widow. “I can never tell my daughter he’s coming to take you skating or for swimming lessons.”
She asked those demonstrating in the streets to “keep the protesting peaceful,” saying: “We want to keep his name positive and great.”
Officer Garrett Rolfe, who fired the shots that killed Brooks, has been fired, and the other officer at the scene, Devin Brosnan, has been placed on administrative duty. Police Chief Erika Shields resigned a day after the shooting.
Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said he hopes to decide by midweek whether to charge either of the officers. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was put in charge of the investigation.