Mourners line up to pay tribute to Rayshard Brooks
Man killed by police remembered as ‘girl dad’
Mourners lined up Monday to pay tribute to Rayshard Brooks, the man Atlanta police fatally shot after they responded to a call that he had fallen asleep in a fast-food drive-thru.
A public viewing started shortly after 3 p.m. EDT in Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, which was Martin Luther King Jr.’s church. Masks were required amid social distancing guidelines.
Performers played live music, and people were ushered into the church in front of Brooks’ gold-colored coffin for brief moments of reflection.
A large screen inside the church beamed Brooks’ image, name and date of birth and death.
Brooks’ death on June 12 sparked widespread outrage and protests in Atlanta and beyond. Within days of the shooting, Police Chief Erika Shields stepped down from her post, officer Garrett Rolfe was fired and charged with 11 counts, including felony murder, and officer Devin Brosnan was placed on administrative duty and faces three charges.
Brooks, who was Black, failed a sobriety test and was being handcuffed when he struggled to get away. Video from the scene shows Brooks fleeing with an officer’s Taser when an officer shoots him from behind. The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office ruled Brooks’ death a homicide. He was 27.
On Tuesday at 1 p.m. EDT, a private funeral service for Brooks’ family will be held, also at Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Last week, Brooks’ family attorney, L. Chris Stewart, announced that Tyler Perry would be paying for the funeral costs.
The Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church and a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, will give the eulogy. Gospel singers Smokie Norful, Tamela Mann and Kurt Carr are expected to perform.
Brooks is being remembered as a “girl dad” by his loved ones, according to a release. He will be buried in Atlanta.
“Rayshard Brooks wasn’t just running from the police. He was running from a system that makes slaves out of people,” said a preview quote from the eulogy that was released Monday. “A system that doesn’t give ordinary people who’ve made mistakes a second chance, a real shot at redemption.”
Ebenezer, founded in 1886, is home to the Martin Luther King Jr. Historic Site and includes several buildings around the King home on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta’s historic Sweet Auburn district, according to the church’s website.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. became pastor in 1931 and was joined by his oldest son in 1960.