GA - Rayshard Brooks, 27, fatally shot in Wendy’s car park, Atlanta, 12 Jun 2020 *officer charged*

[Rocco]

This is definitely a case where I’ll back the blue. Brooks played a stupid game and won a stupid prize. HE alone caused the simple arrest to turn into a mess.

If the officer is charged, I hope numerous people will have the backbone to show some outrage.

 

[Trident]

This is definitely a case where I’ll back the blue. Brooks played a stupid game and won a stupid prize. HE alone caused the simple arrest to turn into a mess.

Remember, when you take that second or third drink and get behind the wheel. . .

To have done anything but arrest Brooks would have been a miscarriage of justice, a slap in the face to the thousands of people who have been arrested for DUI and paid their dues. Why should Brooks be "special"?

 

[Falcon500]

I've tried to keep up with the posts in this thread - and I may have missed it but I'm very interested to know what you think about the sequence of events when LE attempt to handcuff him - the taking of the taser seems to indicate to me he was going to use it and potentially hurt someone - just curious how these thoughts and decisions have to be made in seconds it seems. I appreciate your being on this thread. It must be hard.
JMO

I can’t say that I know why he took the taser but having it he could have disabled one or both of the officers, taken their guns, and killed them.

 

[squareandrabbet]

Yah, I don't think his gf really dropped him off. Why wouldn't she just go through the drive thru to get her drunk bf some food?

Three weeks ago he said on his YouTube channel, that he was happily married with 3 kids. And his wife was on TV today.

But he was in a rental car, talking about a girlfriend dropping him off near his motel, so he can see his kids tomorrow....So that is confusing.

I don't think anyone dropped him off there. He just said that to pretend he wasn't driving drunk. JMO

Or, if the "wife" and "GF" aren't the same woman, the GF probably wanted to get outta Dodge.

In his YouTube video from a few weeks ago, he speaks about being on probation.

Rayshard Brooks



Rayshard Brooks was wanted for a probation violation for failure to notify the community supervision of his address change and failure to complete theft prevention class for the original offenses of False Imprisonment, Cruelty to Children, Family Violence, Battery and Simple Battery. He left Georgia and was found in Ohio. Per additional court documentation he was picked up on January 6, 2020, in Ohio by the Georgia police.


Clerk of Courts Dockets for Lucas County Common Pleas Court | Lucas County, OH - Official Website

Would the police have had access to that Ohio warrant info during the 40 minutes before it turned violent? Don't they take the D/L and check it out? Do out of state warrants show up?

I feel as if (long-time 90's viewer of "Cops") they do indeed show up, which is why (IMO) the lawyers associated with the Brooks family should be keeping as quiet as the officers' families, etc. Doesn't it seem like prejudicing the case?

I brought that up the other night. He could have tasered anyone once he stole it from LE. <modsnip: snark>

No, we've seen people's response being "they can catch him later".

IMO, MOO, JMO, anyone who thinks that is an appropriate response to any spate of criminal behavior, doesn't even know enough about policing to be dangerous - they know nothing about policing, or criminal behavior, or psychology; and ARE dangerous in the bargain.

 

[Recidivist]

Exactly - so are we going to allow LE to decide what is and is not a crime at the time it occurs? By that logic, I guess so. DUI, drunk and disorderly conduct - we won't arrest for anymore so remove those laws from the books - change your statutes, your codes, etc. It is not that simple IMO. I do agree though, the tensions are high now - I would not be LE right now - no wonder the Atlanta chief resigned. sigh.
JMO

I don't like abuse of power by police against any person, of any color. But when you start telling the officers they are not allowed to defend their own lives, I think many will resign. They may not have to de--fund the police if there are no people willing to become police officers in the first place.

imo

 

[Rocco]

I think it was you who said we have to look at the totality of the circumstances. I think that’s exactly what should be done to determine if the taser was a deadly weapon in this particular instance. When considering the totality I believe the taser was a deadly weapon.

Roughly one person dies a week from being tased by police. (Reuters)

 

[oviedo]

Watch CBS This Morning: DA mulls charges against Atlanta officers - Full show on CBS All Access

 

[Keefer]

I can. It's simple. The cop felt Brooks was a threat to his safety, so he tazed him. He could have very well skipped that part and just shot him while Brooks was punching him, and legally so according to the supreme court. If the cop "felt" Brooks was a threat to the public's safety, he could have shot him in the back, and legally so.

I think objectively, and in this point in time, the best argument in the officers favor would be to say that his training overrode his judgement. Maybe because of the struggle and his pursuit of Brookes he was in fight mode and he was trained in escalation of force that stressed going from taser to pistol when someone pointed a weapon at him. I actually think this is what probably happened.
Anyone who has been in a stressful situation knows its very difficult to switch back to a normal state.

 

[SugarQueen]

I think objectively, and in this point in time, the best argument in the officers favor would be to say that his training overrode his judgement. Maybe because of the struggle and his pursuit of Brookes he was in fight mode and he was trained in escalation of force that stressed going from taser to pistol when someone pointed a weapon at him. I actually think this is what probably happened.
Anyone who has been in a stressful situation knows its very difficult to switch back to a normal state.

Or we could say the absolute, proven truth. Brooks was a violent felon, combative, stole the officers taser, fired taser at officer, and was a danger to the community at large if he wasn’t stopped.

 

[squareandrabbet]

I don't like abuse of power by police against any person, of any color. But when you start telling the officers they are not allowed to defend their own lives, I think many will resign. They may not have to de--fund the police if there are no people willing to become police officers in the first place.

imo

Would it surprise you if this were the point, for some individuals or named groups of individuals? People on SM and so forth are stating it out loud in no uncertain terms, and getting creamed for it by people insisting "that's not what de--fund means".

Well, no; but Minneapolis used to say "de--fund" (meaning; to take money away from) and has now said "dismantle"; so I think law-abiding people fearing a slippery slope sneaking in under the guise of "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! of course de--fund doesn't mean dismantle!", have something of a point, IMO.

 

[Kakidoll]

He didn't even know where he was, and his 'home' changed from his story to today's articles. Motel, GF, Wife, Dixie Hwy. HE DIDN'T"T KNOW WHERE HE WAS. And you expect police to let him go? Then they get sued when he walks into traffic and gets hit by a car.

 

[Trident]

He didn't even know where he was, and his 'home' changed from his story to today's articles. Motel, GF, Wife, Dixie Hwy. HE DIDN'T"T KNOW WHERE HE WAS. And you expect police to let him go? Then they get sued when he walks into traffic and gets hit by a car.

Even in Mayberry they put Otis in a jail cell.

 

[Recidivist]

Even in Mayberry they put Otis in a jail cell.

Actually, most of the time Otis put himself into the cell.

 

[Trident]

Actually, most of the time Otis put himself into the cell.

Good on Otis, he was smarter than Brooks, IMO

 

[tresir2012]

I have a question about the article that states a “white” woman started the fire. The article states the woman sprayed something on the flames. What FLAMES?? Where did the flames come from? Is she seen actually STARTING the fire before she sprays something? Are we forgetting that there had to be a fire for her to spray something on FLAMES.

I guess she was fanning the flames. Or perhaps she was squirting water on the flames. But there were flames already there. Then the gas station was looted and torched. I think that de-funding is probably the way to go and the community can decide what they want.

 

[Curiosity1234]

Or, if the "wife" and "GF" aren't the same woman, the GF probably wanted to get outta Dodge.





I feel as if (long-time 90's viewer of "Cops") they do indeed show up, which is why (IMO) the lawyers associated with the Brooks family should be keeping as quiet as the officers' families, etc. Doesn't it seem like prejudicing the case?



No, we've seen people's response being "they can catch him later".

IMO, MOO, JMO, anyone who thinks that is an appropriate response to any spate of criminal behavior, doesn't even know enough about policing to be dangerous - they know nothing about policing, or criminal behavior, or psychology; and ARE dangerous in the bargain.

I suspect from what Rayshard Brooks said to the police officers that he might have been living in Ohio, he even produced an Ohio drivers license but told them he was living in N. C. He was driving a rental car that was in someone else's name. He and his girlfriend drove from Ohio to GA and were staying in a motel. He planned to attend his oldest daughters 8th birthday party the next day.

 

[tresir2012]

double post - but I will add I think the DA will charge the officer - the Atlanta Mayor has made a stand.
JMO

Then watch the other officers stand down IMO.

 

[Trident]

Then watch the other officers stand down IMO.

Ask BLM I guess.

Or all those who defend and make excuses for him.

IMO

 

[katydid23]

Did I miss something ? It seems to me that Rayshard Brooks was on probation in Georgia. He violated that probation by not showing up for a class and not notifying the probation department he had moved to Ohio. Rayshard Brooks was picked up in Ohio by Georgia police on January 6, 2020 and taken back to Georgia.

He was on probation for offences which included 'Cruelty to Children', 'Simple Assault', 'Domestic Violence" and a few other things...

 

[escape2sc]

"Vail, post: 16157077, member: 136069"]Thank you for bringing the discussion back around.

Guys, this thread is for Rayshard, who's life was ended by a white police officer. The fact that there is rampant discrimination, especially in the south, is not remotely in question. "

(clipped quote) BBM
According to the U.S. Census Bureau 35% of all white Americans live in the south and 55% of all African Americans live in the south.

According to the chart I have included from statista the Northeast region of the U.S. has more Black Americans killed by police.

According to the Bureau of Justice the victimization rate by region per 1000 African Americans show the Northeast with 30.3%, Midwest 42.6%, South 22%, West 37%

It stands to reason that if discrimination was rampant especially in the south then the statistics would not show the south having a lower % of African Americans killed by police and a lower % of African Americans being victims of crime.

What the statistics show is that the % of African Americans being the victims of crime is higher the lower their income is and is higher in urban areas. Statistics also show that despite 55% of all African Americans living in the south there is a lower % of African Americans killed by police and the lowest % in the U.S. of African Americans being the victims of crime.

I have lived in the south for over 40 years. Despite the normal rhetoric the majority of white southerners do not see African Americans as being different or inferior in any way. We see them as former classmates and teachers, friends, family members and neighbors, our first responders, co-workers and supervisors, our nurses and our doctors, our bankers and lawyers, local business owners. We went to the same classrooms in the same schools with the same teachers, books and homework. We work the same jobs with the same benefits and supervisors. We shopp in the same businesses, and dine at the same restaurants prepared by the same cooks. We trusted our health care with the same providers and hospitals. We deposited our money in the same bank, bought cars in the same market, bought houses in the same neighborhoods. How can we see African Americans as different or inferior when our every day lives are so similar ? I am not disputing the fact that racism exists but I am disputing the fact that racism is especially rampant in the south.

The fact that Rayshard was African American and the police officer was white does not change the facts shown in the 2 videos. If Rayshard would have been Native American, Hispanic or Asian would it matter what color the police officer was ?

Infographic: Black Americans 2.5X More Likely Than Whites to Be Killed By Police
https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/bvvc.pdf