Bond denied for officer who killed Rayshard Brooks

A judge on Friday denied bond for the former Atlanta police officer who has been charged with felony murder and other crimes after fatally shooting Rayshard Brooks in the back after Brooks fired a stun gun in his direction.

Judge Jeffrey Frazier found probable cause exists to detain Garrett Rolfe for the slaying of Rayshard Brooks outside a Wendy’s fast food restaurant in Atlanta, court records show. Rolfe is white. Brooks was Black.

Disciplinary records released Friday by police show that Rolfe, who became an Atlanta police officer in September 2014, was cleared after investigations into several citizen complaints over the years but was once reprimanded for pointing a gun at a car during a chase.

Brooks’ killing rocked a city — and a nation — still reeling after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis last month. Floyd’s death set off nationwide protests that have urged an extensive rethink of policing and an examination of racism in the United States.

Police were called to the Wendy’s on June 12 over complaints of a car blocking the drive-thru lane. An officer found Brooks asleep in the car.

Police body-camera video showed Brooks and officers having a relatively calm and respectful conversation for more than 40 minutes before things rapidly turned violent when officers tried to handcuff him and Brooks resisted. Brooks and the two officers wrestled, and then Brooks grabbed one of their stun guns and fired it in their direction as he ran through the parking lot.

An autopsy found that Brooks was shot twice in the back.

In announcing charges Wednesday, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said Brooks wasn’t a deadly threat when he was shot and that Rolfe kicked him and offered no medical treatment for over two minutes as Brooks lay dying. Another officer, Devin Brosnan, who the prosecutor said stood on Brooks’ shoulder as he struggled for his life, was charged with aggravated assault and violation of his oath. Howard also said the pair failed to tell Brooks he was under arrest before trying to handcuff him.

Lawyers for both men have said their clients’ actions were justified.