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Violent riots after Rayshard Brooks' death
(CNN) - Recently released police records show that the agent who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta last week had several citizen complaints against him prior to the incident.
Garrett Rolfe was fired from the Atlanta Police Department a day after the Brooks murder, shortly after the Chief of Police announced that he would resign. A second officer at the scene, Devin Brosnan, was put into administrative service.
Citizen complaints against Rolfe date back to 2015, according to records released by the Atlanta Police Department. All incidents have notes that no action was taken. A 2016 use of force complaint resulted in a written reprimand the following year, according to records.
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"I could have said to people, 'I guarantee this agent has had problems in the past.' It's usually that situation, ”said L. Chris Stewart, attorney for the Brooks family, Monday night. “You already know who is causing problems or who has had previous problems or who has complaints. Many of them are not justified and then (the agents) remain in the force. ”
"So it is not a surprise."
CNN has contacted the Police Department for more information on the officers' records. CNN has also reached out to the Atlanta Police Foundation.
Rolfe and Brosnan have not responded to repeated requests for comment.
The Brooks family and their attorneys, as well as the district attorney who could press charges against the officers, all say the encounter between the 27-year-old black man and the police should not have been fatal. Brooks chatted quietly with officers for more than 20 minutes before the three of them quarreled and he attempted to flee with a Taser. He was shot twice in the back, the medical examiner said.
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His death comes just three weeks after George Floyd died at the hands of the Minneapolis Police, sparking worldwide protests denouncing racism and oppression and calling for police reform. The protests in Atlanta were still ongoing when Brooks was killed, sparking larger crowds, with new signs bearing the name of another victim filling the city streets again.
On Monday hundreds of protesters marched to the State Capitol to protest police brutality and demand an end to systemic racism. Among the protesters was Atlanta Hawks head coach Lloyd Pierce.
"I know that one day I will die as a black man ... but I don't want to die because I am a black man," he told the crowd on Monday.
On Tuesday, four days after Brooks' death, a tribute was growing at the Wendy's location where Brooks was shot, and which burned during protests Saturday night.
Agent Garrett Rolfe, left, and Agent Devin Brosnan, right.
District Attorney defines if charges will be filed
Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard Jr. says a decision on whether to press charges could come as soon as Wednesday. Those charges, he said, could range from willful murder to murder.
"If it had been a civilian, there is a possibility that charges have already been filed against them," he said. "What I think people across the country say is 'we want a system so that both the police and citizens are treated equally.' That is what we hope to do by making our decision on Wednesday. ”
Howard said he watched videos of the incident and did not understand why it turned into a deadly shooting since Brooks initially appeared to comply. Those videos showing Brooks' last moments in life will help the prosecutor determine if the shooting was justified.
“At that time, under Georgia law, unless Mr. Brooks presented an imminent threat of bodily harm… was it necessary for (the agent) to shoot Mr. Brooks to save his life or someone else's. Because if Mr. Brooks was shot for some other reason, then it's not justified, "said Howard.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has already said she doesn't think the deadly force in the incident is warranted. This Monday, she said Brooks' death was murder.
"Our Police officers must be guardians and not warriors within our communities," said Bottoms.
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CNN police analyst Charles Ramsey says that although Brooks appeared to shoot a Taser at police while on the run, the agent behind him should have continued to chase Brooks, rather than shoot.
“You have the car. You asked for his driver's license. Do you know who it is. So even if you don't stop it now, you can stop it later, "Ramsey said.
“The need to immediately apprehend it is eliminated. And you can only use deadly force in certain very limited circumstances, ”as if the agent's life or that of any other person was in danger.
Brooks' family attorney, Justin Miller, echoed those sentiments.
"After the fight, I think the right thing to do was try to capture him. And if you can't catch him, then you can't shoot him because you can't reach him, "Miller said Monday.
Who does Brooks leave behind
Tomika Miller, the wife of Rayshard Brooks, speaks in memory with her children during a press conference on June 15, 2020. (Credit: Curtis Compton)
Brooks, 27, was the father of three young daughters ages 1, 2 and 8 and a stepson of 13. He had spent much of Friday celebrating his daughter's eighth birthday before a birthday party planned for Saturday.
Family attorneys say the little girl waited for her father in her birthday dress that morning. But he never came home.
"There is no justice that can make me feel happy about what has been done," Brooks' wife Tomika Miller said at a press conference on Monday. "I can never get my husband back. I can never get my best friend back. I can never say to my daughter, 'He will come to take you skating or swimming.' ”
"It will be a long time before this family heals."
Her teenage son has been locked up since his father's death, Miller said.
"He's in shock ," she said. "She is not ready to talk about it."
"I don't think he thinks it could have happened to someone that close," which is not just on television, Miller said.
- Jamiel Lynch and Julia Griggs of CNN contributed to this report.
RacismRayshard Brooks