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

[Keefer]

From multiple videos, Mr Brooks is seen tumbling and tussling with both officers on the ground, who were trying to get him to calm down. Punches and arms were flailing. It is called resisting arrest. The shooting officers' bodycam was torn off his shirt and laid on the ground for some time, with audio still available. I would call that harm.

Know I’ve done a bit of rolling around on the ground myself and I do see grappling but its what is termed,”defensive resistance” by Mr. Brooks anyway, he does Not appear to throw any punches, grab hair, bite or cause great harm to the officers, he is resisting arrest in a defensive manner and his sole purpose appears to be to escape.
Shirts can be easily torn if you are grappling with someone, btw.

 

[LietKynes]

I watched a man being interrogated by the police, for quite some time on video. Mr Brooks was polite, but obviously impaired. Bottom line, he had no business getting behind the wheel of a car last night. What changed from his polite demeanor to the resisting arrest and taking a police officers weapon, firing the same at the officers. Fear? Or stupidity?
Don't spit into the wind!!

bbm
Good question !

Many criminals fear LE due to their own criminal misdeeds.
So I'd say someone didn't want to get jail time or a fine.

What were the officers supposed to do ?
Let him continue to sleep it off ?
Let him drive away , impaired --and run over an innocent person or crash into another car ?
The police are there to protect all of us, and that is exactly what they were doing.
I'd say that many who are rioting/protesting have never worked as a cop.
Imo.

 

[Keefer]

From multiple videos, Mr Brooks is seen tumbling and tussling with both officers on the ground, who were trying to get him to calm down. Punches and arms were flailing. It is called resisting arrest. The shooting officers' bodycam was torn off his shirt and laid on the ground for some time, with audio still available. I would call that harm.

Know I’ve done a bit of rolling around on the ground myself and I do see grappling but its what is termed,”defensive resistance” by Mr. Brooks anyway, he does Not appear to throw any punches, grab hair, bite or cause great harm to the officers, he is resisting arrest in a defensive manner and his sole purpose appears to be to escape.
Shirts can be easily torn if you are grappling with someone, btw.

If you fight with police, steal a tazer gun and fire at the officer. Yea, you could loose the battle.
Moo....

Did he fire the tazer at the officer, if he did I wasn’t aware of that, I thought he pointed it at him. As far as “fighting” with the officers thats not strictly true. Fighting implies offensive techniques and an intent to inflict harm.

 

[Simply Southern]

We can only guess. But maybe she decided that the job wasn't worth the personal stress.

"If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!".

She "stepped aside" per the mayor. The COP will take another position, to be determined.

I bet, she got a sweet deal to step aside and stay silent. She seems smart, and I'm betting she'll be watching this play out, from a nice desk job.

 

[Curiosity1234]

Of course they don’t. The looters are merely opportunists, when they get caught running off with that big screen tv they claim they are protesting.

I don't think the two people (captured on video) who are being charged for setting a police vehicle on fire will have much to say in court.

 

[mickey2942]

It would be interesting to know what substances, if any, Mr. Brooks had in his system.

It appears that the situation went like this:
1. Brooks is asleep in his car, blocking take out orders at Wendy's.
2. Police officers arrived, to wake up Mr. Brooks. What happened that lead up to the altercation? Mr. Brooks was asleep in his car, police officers asked him to get out? They woke him up?

How did it go from "move car out of way" , to man running from police, after taking a taser? And getting shot?

Seems like a lot of the story is missing here.

 

[shotgun09]

How did it go from "move car out of way" , to man running from police, after taking a taser? And getting shot?

Seems like a lot of the story is missing here.

The man somehow was able to move the vehicle to a parking space, and subsequently was questioned by the police. The video I saw showed a quite lengthy session of questions and answers....many of which Mr Brooks was caught lying btw, and also included a field sobriety test and breathalyzer test, resulting in his attempted arrest. Once the actual handcuffs appeared, the resisting began. Up until then, it was calm and polite

 

[Curiosity1234]

I thought he appeared to keep running in one direction and then turned his torso partially, pointed the tazer and then continued running never breaking stride. As far as something being less lethal than something else l dont know about that. Maybe Falcon 500 could help us if he is still around?
What in Mr. Brooks’ actions tells you he was going to suddenly stop and attack the officer?

I never said he was going to suddenly stop and attack the officer. I said once he got the teaser his intent appeared to have changed. What that intent was, we don't know. He didn't grab the taser for no reason.

 

[mickey2942]

She "stepped aside" per the mayor. The COP will take another position, to be determined.

I bet, she got a sweet deal to step aside and stay silent. She seems smart, and I'm betting she'll be watching this play out, from a nice desk job.

Sometimes you work hard to get a job, and wonder why the heck you ever wanted it anyway. Been there, done that.

 

[Keefer]

bbm
Good question !

Many criminals fear LE due to their own criminal misdeeds.
So I'd say someone didn't want to get jail time or a fine.

What were the officers supposed to do ?
Let him continue to sleep it off ?
Let him drive away , impaired --and run over an innocent person or crash into another car ?
The police are there to protect all of us, and that is exactly what they were doing.
I'd say that many who are rioting/protesting have never worked as a cop.
Imo.

Of course they are supposed to do their job, but they are limited by the rule of law like everyone else. They are not allowed to use lethal force unless they are facing imminent lethal force themselves. There are a lot of questions as to whether or not this was a justified shooting. Forming an opinion before all the facts are examined or even fully known is simply being dishonest with yourself.

 

[Keefer]

I never said he was going to suddenly stop and attack the officer. I said once he got the teaser his intent appeared to have changed. What that intent was, we don't know. He didn't grab the taser for no reason.

My best guess is he grabbed the tazed because he was afraid of being tazed.

 

[IceIce9]

Of course they are supposed to do their job, but they are limited by the rule of law like everyone else. They are not allowed to use lethal force unless they are facing imminent lethal force themselves. There are a lot of questions as to whether or not this was a justified shooting. Forming an opinion before all the facts are examined or even fully known is simply being dishonest with yourself.

The people rioting have already formed their opinions. I don’t see them waiting for the facts.

 

[lisaNYC]

Did Mr. Brooks taze anyone?

I think he did shoot the tazer at the cop.

 

[Simply Southern]

Sometimes you work hard to get a job, and wonder why the heck you ever wanted it anyway. Been there, done that.

I admire her for not resigning. MOO...She's standing her ground. She not giving up her salary or benefits, she will remain on the payroll of the APD. She will still be on the inside and able to observe.

She may not have a voice at this stage, but she will be heard. At trial if the officer is charged, or in many of the employee discrimination law suits to follow.

Moo....

 

[SugarQueen]

I appreciate your opinion. What could come out that we dont know yet? The officer was fired and might be charged, Mr. Brooks is dead. So, l guess it will just be what the officers might say or perhaps more video evidence. I am curious though about how adamant you and so many others are that lethal force was justified. I am pretty sure the police themselves have not finished investigating the case.

I stand by my opinion that this was justifiable. As for investigating....that obviously isn’t a priority since they chose to fire the officer before ANY investigation.

 

[Keefer]

Things are moving quickly now, so it just might come sooner than we think. JMOO

As an aside,

The people rioting have already formed their opinions. I don’t see them waiting for the facts.

How is that relevant as to whether or not Mr.Brooks’ rights were violated?

 

[SugarQueen]

Does he at anytime appear to try to harm either officer excepting of course when he points the tazer at one while running away. This could speak to his state of mind, in a courtroom of course, not necessarily here...

does he try to harm either officer??? I’m pretty sure they weren’t having a tea party rolling around on the ground trying to cuff him so I would say YES!!

 

[CSIDreamer]

My best guess is he grabbed the tazed because he was afraid of being tazed.

What was he doing that would make him afraid he was going to be tazed?

 

[shotgun09]

If this goes to court, IMO there is substantial evidence that the police acted appropriately. But, in the meantime we must suffer through more riots and such. Mike Brown, the "gentle giant" from Ferguson tried to take officers gun away too. Again, as Jim Croce sang, " don't spit into the wind"!

 

[Keefer]

I stand by my opinion that this was justifiable. As for investigating....that obviously isn’t a priority since they chose to fire the officer before ANY investigation.

I too wish that we knew more about the reasons given for the officers firing and the chief quitting.

What was he doing that would make him afraid he was going to be tazed?

He was trying to get away from the officers, why, i dont know. I’ve done somethings i wished I had not. The officer gets to go home to his family, Mr. Brooks does not.