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Atlanta Police Chief Resigns After Officer Shoots and Kills Black Man Atlanta Police Chief Resigns After Officer Shoots and Kills a Black Man
(about 2 hours later)
Atlanta’s police chief resigned on Saturday, less than 24 hours after a police officer shot and killed a man at a Wendy’s drive-through who had run from the police after failing a sobriety check and taking an officer’s Taser, the authorities said. ATLANTA — Less than 24 hours after police shot and killed an African-American man outside a fast-food restaurant, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms of Atlanta announced on Saturday that the city’s police chief had resigned, and called for the “immediate termination” of the officer who shot the man.
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms of Atlanta said that security footage appeared to show that the man, Rayshard Brooks, 27, who is black, had fired the Taser toward the officer, who was chasing him before he was killed. The authorities said the man, Rayshard Brooks, 27, had run from the police on Friday night after failing a sobriety test and grabbing a Taser from an officer during a struggle with him. Ms. Bottoms said that security footage appeared to show that Mr. Brooks had fired the Taser toward the officer, who was chasing him before he was killed, but that she did not consider that a justification for the shooting.
“While there may be debate as to whether this was an appropriate use of deadly force, I firmly believe that there is a clear distinction between what you can do and what you should do,” Ms. Bottoms said. “I do not believe that this was a justified use of deadly force.”“While there may be debate as to whether this was an appropriate use of deadly force, I firmly believe that there is a clear distinction between what you can do and what you should do,” Ms. Bottoms said. “I do not believe that this was a justified use of deadly force.”
In addition to the resignation of the police chief, Erika Shields, who just weeks earlier had engaged with demonstrators protesting the killing of George Floyd, Ms. Bottoms said that she had also called for the immediate firing of the police officer who killed Mr. Brooks. Ms. Bottoms’s rapid response to the fatal shooting signaled the heightened scrutiny facing law enforcement as a wave of protest against police violence continues in many cities around the country — a movement that has already prompted a number of changes to local police policies, as well as a broader conversation about the ongoing racism that people of color experience in the justice system and nearly every other facet of American life.
Ms. Shields, who is white and took over the department in 2017, will be replaced by Rodney Bryant, a black man who has served as a top police deputy and recently took over as the interim head of the city’s jails, Ms. Bottoms said, adding that the city will launch a national search for a permanent replacement. In the past, police shootings have rarely prompted such swift and dramatic responses. It is more common for city leaders to stand with the police and urge patience as prosecutors and the police departments themselves conduct reviews. The moves by Atlanta officials on Saturday may have been taken with an eye to the streets, in the hope of dampening a potentially explosive reaction like those that have engulfed many cities over the last several weeks.
Ms. Bottoms said that Ms. Shields had made the choice to resign and would continue to work for the city, but her role was not yet determined. The resignation of Atlanta’s police chief, Erika Shields, who is white, was the latest in a series of shake-ups at several large police departments amid the protests after the May 25 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. In Portland, Ore., Chief Jami Resch, who is white, stepped down this week, saying she wanted a top black lieutenant to replace her. And earlier this month, the mayor of Louisville terminated the city’s police chief after his officers were among those who fired at the owner of a barbecue restaurant, who was black.
The encounter in the Wendy’s drive-through began on Friday night when police officers arrived on the scene and found that Mr. Brooks had fallen asleep in his vehicle, causing other customers to drive around him, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the shooting. In Atlanta, a few nights of looting, destruction and tense stand offs with the police followed Mr. Floyd’s death, including an incident in which two college students were pulled by police officers from their car and tased, an encounter that was captured on video. But more recently, the protests in the southern city, as in much of the country, have been mostly peaceful, if no less spirited.
Mr. Brooks failed a sobriety test, the bureau said, and then struggled with officers as he was being arrested. Videos posted on social media showed him grappling with the two officers who were trying to arrest him. One officer appeared to try to stun him after Mr. Brooks threw a punch at him. Mr. Brooks’s shooting left many in the city once again incensed by the death of another black man at the hands of police — and nervous about the potential for more destructive flare-ups.
As Mr. Brooks ran away, appearing to hold the Taser, one officer chased after him, holding another stun gun. Then, in one of the videos, several gunshots can be heard. Protesters gathered Saturday at both Centennial Olympic Park, in the heart of downtown, and at the site of the shooting, a Wendy’s restaurant south of downtown. As of early evening, those gatherings were peaceful. But the feeling of exasperation was palpable.
On Saturday afternoon, after obtaining surveillance video from the restaurant and reviewing videos on social media, the bureau revised its initial account of what had happened, saying its earlier statement — which claimed that Mr. Brooks was killed during the struggle with officers — “was based on the officer’s body cam which was knocked off during the physical struggle, preventing the capture of the entire shooting incident.” Antonio Brown, an African-American city councilman, has spent days organizing and leading peaceful protests through the city. “It’s like, all the work we’ve done — and then this happens,” Mr. Brown said.
“During the chase, Mr. Brooks turned and pointed the Taser at the officer,” the bureau said, adding, that “the officer fired his weapon, striking Brooks.” The encounter at the Wendy’s began around 10:30 p.m. on Friday when police officers were called to the restaurant because Mr. Brooks had fallen asleep in his vehicle, which was parked in the drive-through, causing other customers to drive around him, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said in a statement.
Mr. Brooks was taken to a hospital, where he died after surgery. One officer was treated for an injury during the episode and was later released. Mr. Brooks failed a sobriety test, the authorities said, and then struggled with officers as he was being arrested. A video posted on social media showed him grappling with the two officers who were trying to arrest him. One officer appeared to try to stun him with a Taser after Mr. Brooks threw a punch at him.
The shooting comes as protests and unrest have erupted in Atlanta and cities across the country in response to the death of Mr. Floyd, a black man who died in the custody of Minneapolis police officers on May 25. As Mr. Brooks ran away, appearing to hold the Taser, one officer chased after him, holding another stun gun. Then, in one video, several gunshots were heard.
Days later, protesters in Atlanta climbed to the top of a large red CNN sign outside the news media company’s headquarters and spray-painted messages on it. People also jumped on police cars and tossed rocks at the glass doors of the Omni Hotel. The bureau initially said in a statement that witnesses described Mr. Brooks being shot “in the struggle over the Taser.” But on Saturday afternoon, after obtaining surveillance video from the restaurant and reviewing videos on social media, the bureau revised that account, saying it “was based on the officer’s body cam which was knocked off during the physical struggle, preventing the capture of the entire shooting incident.”
The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office said it was conducting its own investigation into the Brooks shooting, separate from the bureau’s. “During the chase, Mr. Brooks turned and pointed the Taser at the officer,” the bureau said, adding that “the officer fired his weapon, striking Brooks.”
“Our thoughts and our sympathies are extended to the family of Rayshard Brooks as we must not forget that this investigation is centered upon a loss of life,” the district attorney, Paul L. Howard Jr., said in a statement. Mr. Brooks was taken to a hospital, where he died after surgery, the authorities said. One officer was treated at a hospital for an injury and was later released.
State and local officials spoke out about the shooting. The killing was particularly painful for a city sometimes called America’s Black Mecca for its cultural and economic importance to the lives of African-Americans, and its stature as one of the great spiritual and organizing centers of the civil rights movement.
The Rev. James Woodall, the state president of the N.A.A.C.P., said on Saturday of Mr. Brooks, “there was nothing that he did that was deserving of death.” Atlanta remains a majority-black city with significant African-American political representation and a large number of black police officers. That has created a complex interplay between protesters and city authorities as recent protests have unfolded.
“Our overall message is that we are done dying,” the reverend said. “We are done waking up at 1 or 2 in the morning to another murder or yet another case of police brutality.” Mayor Bottoms, who is African-American, earned widespread praise for her response to the unrest early on, speaking passionately about her role as a black mother and her fears for her black son. Her eloquence elevated her national stature, and put her on a list of potential vice-presidential picks for former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
Former candidate for governor Stacey Abrams said on Twitter that the killing of Mr. Brooks “demands we severely restrict the use of deadly force.” She added, “sleeping in a drive-thru must not end in death.” Ms. Shields had also earned praise for her response to the street protests after Mr. Floyd’s death. Early on, she went out into the streets to speak — and listen — to demonstrators.
But the city’s response has also been marked by controversy and embarrassment, including an incident in which a young black man and black woman were tased and violently dragged from their cars by Atlanta police officers as protests raged downtown. The episode, on May 30, was captured by television reporters and transmitted live as it unfolded.
Two of the officers involved in that incident were fired, and four others were placed on administrative leave. Soon after, the local district attorney, Paul Howard, brought criminal charges against all six officers — a move that Chief Shields criticized in a departmental email that referred to Mr. Howard’s re-election bid, according to The Associated Press.
Ms. Shields, who was sworn in as chief in 2017, will be replaced by Rodney Bryant, a black man who has served as a top police deputy and recently took over as the interim head of the city’s jails, Ms. Bottoms said, adding that the city will launch a national search for a permanent replacement.
Ms. Bottoms said that Ms. Shields had decided to resign but would continue to work for the city in a role that was not yet determined. In a statement, Ms. Shields said she was stepping aside “out of a deep and abiding love for this city and this department,” so that they could “build trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.”
On Saturday, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation released footage from a Wendy’s security camera that showed the last moments of the encounter between the police officers and Mr. Brooks. In the video, Mr. Brooks runs into the frame between two parked police S.U.V.s and a line of cars waiting in the drive-through lane. He appears to have something in his right hand, and he is followed by an officer who also has something in his hand.
While being chased, and in full stride, Mr. Brooks points the object he is holding at the officer. The officer then fires his handgun, and Mr. Brooks falls to the pavement.
Shortly before Ms. Bottoms’s announcement that Ms. Shields would step down, the N.A.A.C.P. called for the chief’s resignation. Rev. James Woodall, the president of its state chapter, said of Mr. Brooks, “there was nothing that he did that was deserving of death.”
“Our overall message is that we are done dying,” the reverend said. “We are done waking up at one or two in the morning to another murder or yet another case of police brutality.”
Richard Fausset reported from Atlanta, Johnny Diaz from Miami and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs from Minneapolis.