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

[Rocky1]

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.

I disagree.
The best defense the cop can use IMO is to say that in his judgement, he was in fear for either his life, fear that serious bodily harm would be done to him, and/or his judgement told him that the public would be threatened with the same. Then he followed the procedure of what he was trained to do.
Maybe he was in the fight mode? Could be, but it had nothing to do with his judgement. It had everything to do with Brooks punching him and stealing his tazer. Did he look like he was in fight mode before Brooks resisted? He set out to finish what he started, and that was to arrest Brooks using whatever force it took to complete that task.

 

[katydid23]

I agree. According to what he told the police his girlfriend was at a motel in GA. Him and his girlfriend drove to GA in a rental car which was not in his name. That's not the picture the Brooks family lawyer is painting. Oh, the games people play now; every night and every day now. You can't be a devoted husband and father if you live 12 hours away with your girlfriend. The girlfriend must be in hiding somewhere.

Nor can we paint someone as a devoted loving father, once they have been convicted of Domestic Battery, Cruelty to a Child, and Simple Assault.

That doesn't mean he deserves a death penalty, but that wasn't why he was shot. He was shot because he was making the same bad impulsive decisions which landed him in prison.

I think he is a very manipulative person. He opened his conversation with a strange comment---The cop asked him where he was coming from and he instantly said 'my Mama's graveside.'

Officer says ' Aw, I'm sorry, when did she pass?'

" A year and a half ago."




I highly doubt that was a truthful answer to the first question. He didnt get his Margarita/Dacchari at the cemetery.

 

[Rocky1]

If the officer or officers are charged will the judge or jury who hears the case be allowed to know about Rayshard Brooks' criminal record and see his you tube video ?

There will be a suppression hearing before the trial in which the attorney for Brooks may make a motion to suppress certain evidence and keep the jury from hearing /seeing it. Then the Judge decides what evidence is allows at trial and what isn't.

 

[tayaway]

You might be right. Some people would rather be dead than go back to prison.

Or maybe he thought once they cuffed him, one would put a knee to his neck, and he'd die right there, never mind going back to prison? We can't get inside his head.

 

[katydid23]

Impulse control. I did a study years ago on repeat offenders. The one commonality between all of them, was poor impulse control. They react, no space between thought and action. They just act on impulse. No actual evidence of thought process. And even more interesting, was the lack of insight into their own behavior that landed them in jail, multiple times.

Whether it was Attention Deficit disorder or result of some undiagnosed underlying brain damage, there was no determination of causation. Just correlation between poor impulse control and multiple incarcerations.

Yes, Impulse Control. That is a major factor in classroom behavior as well. We had an amazing Kindergarten teacher where I used to work. Both my kids had her.

She taught them things like Impulse Control and Delayed Gratification. Every Friday morning she'd give each student one of the goodies from the treasure chest. But they had to set it on their desk corner until the end of the day. If they could wait until the end of class to eat their yummy treat, they would get to pick another one, and could leave with 2 treats.

At beginning of the year, most all of the kids ate the treat before lunch. lol. But by the end, every child had learned to wait, and delay the gratification. And they conquered their Impulse Control, just a step.

 

[katydid23]

Or maybe he thought once they cuffed him, one would put a knee to his neck, and he'd die right there, never mind going back to prison? We can't get inside his head.

Both of the officers had been respectful and polite for the entire 30 minutes of their interaction. There was nothing to make him think he was going to be harmed by them. I think it is much more likely that he didnt want to violate parole and get sent back to serve out his sentence. JMO

 

[Rocky1]

I don't think he should have resisted- but i have to say, they shot in the back while he was fleeing--- he was not an imminent threat to the officers at that point--- these cases are not black and white (i don't mean race)- there is a lot of grey in there. I don't think this man should be dead: on the other hand i wish he had just cooperated with the police and he would still be alive. these are difficult cases.

But was he an imminent threat to the public? If so, a cop can use lethal force to stop him from running.

 

[tayaway]

Yes, Impulse Control. That is a major factor in classroom behavior as well. We had an amazing Kindergarten teacher where I used to work. Both my kids had her.

She taught them things like Impulse Control and Delayed Gratification. Every Friday morning she'd give each student one of the goodies from the treasure chest. But they had to set it on their desk corner until the end of the day. If they could wait until the end of class to eat their yummy treat, they would get to pick another one, and could leave with 2 treats.

At beginning of the year, most all of the kids ate the treat before lunch. lol. But by the end, every child had learned to wait, and delay the gratification. And they conquered their Impulse Control, just a step.

Pretty amazing! Such exercises need to be taught in schools to help students adjust and function in society as adults.

 

[katydid23]

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.

I think this is exactly what happened . I think he was trained to fight against a suspect trying to taser him, because we have seen cases where that is done, in order to do more serious harm to the officer.

I think his training taught him he was fighting for his life and the safety of others. This man was drunk and out of control, and could be a danger to others, for example, if he wanted their car to escape.

 

[tayaway]

I think this is exactly what happened . I think he was trained to fight against a suspect trying to taser him, because we have seen cases where that is done, in order to do more serious harm to the officer.

I think his training taught him he was fighting for his life and the safety of others. This man was drunk and out of control, and could be a danger to others, for example, if he wanted their car to escape.

Training and instinct, especially in the moment, right? So why not shoot him in the leg, to stop him rather than outright kill him?

 

[shotgun09]

Does anyone know when a decision is to be made on charging this officer?

 

[SugarQueen]

Training and instinct, especially in the moment, right? So why not shoot him in the leg, to stop him rather than outright kill him?

Law enforcement officers are NOT trained to shoot in the leg. First of all it’s a much smaller target. Secondly when they are forced to shoot someone they are in a serious situation, usually life threatening for officer or someone else. It is definitely not the time to try and stop a threat with a leg shot.
. ( They aren’t the only ones taught that either. Some martial arts instructors teach the higher level students the same thing. )

 

[Rocky1]

Training and instinct, especially in the moment, right? So why not shoot him in the leg, to stop him rather than outright kill him?

Cops are not trained to shoot someone in the leg. They are trained to aim for the center mass of the body. They are trained to stop the threat. It's harder to hit someone in the leg and hitting someone in the leg may not stop the threat.

 

[SugarQueen]

Cops are not trained to shoot someone in the leg. They are trained to aim for the center mass of the body. They are trained to stop the threat. It's harder to hit someone in the leg and hitting someone in the leg may not stop the threat.

Well you certainly explained it better than me! LOL

 

[tayaway]

Law enforcement officers are NOT trained to shoot i the leg. First of all it’s a much smaller target. Secondly when they are forced to shoot someone they are in a serious situation, usually life threatening for officer or someone else. It is definitely not the time to try and stop a thread with a leg shot.
. ( They aren’t the only ones taught that either. Some martial arts instructors teach the higher level students the same thing. )

Wasn't he running away? Maybe they need to modify their training? Was deadly force warranted? ETA: MOO

I took tae kwon do for years and even the newbie white belts knew it was 2 points to the head and only 1 for the rest of the body. It doesn't mean you're supposed to snap your opponent's neck with a flying kick. Training involves learning how to react in different situations.

 

[mickey2942]

Pretty amazing! Such exercises need to be taught in schools to help students adjust and function in society as adults.

"The Marshmallow Test". An awesome book, and narrated by Alan Alda, which makes the book fantastic. I wish Alan Alda would narrate more books!

 

[tayaway]

Does anyone know when a decision is to be made on charging this officer?

According to CNN, the DA will update with their decision likely Wednesday.

 

[Rocky1]

Well you certainly explained it better than me! LOL

Ha! I'm not sure about that. I think you explained it just fine. In fact, I think we said close to the same thing at the same time.

 

[Dawookie]

Then why slow down to shoot the taser at the officer? He didn't need to do that if he was just about running away.

I think it is pretty obvious why they immediately fired the officer. They didn't want the entire city to burn.

They didn't want it to burn but this is going to turn into a nightmare for the city and it's leadership. Chances are the officer isn't going to be charged and if he is, will most likely be acquitted on top of getting his job back. The city has created a giant mess by firing and charging officers for using a taser and then turning around and firing an officer who shot a suspect who was pointing/ attempting to use a taser against them. Their lawyers are going to have a field day.

 

[Curiosity1234]

Nor can we paint someone as a devoted loving father, once they have been convicted of Domestic Battery, Cruelty to a Child, and Simple Assault.

That doesn't mean he deserves a death penalty, but that wasn't why he was shot. He was shot because he was making the same bad impulsive decisions which landed him in prison.

I think he is a very manipulative person. He opened his conversation with a strange comment---The cop asked him where he was coming from and he instantly said 'my Mama's graveside.'

Officer says ' Aw, I'm sorry, when did she pass?'

" A year and a half ago."




I highly doubt that was a truthful answer to the first question. He didnt get his Margarita/Dacchari at the cemetery.

Oh my, I missed him saying he was at the cemetery. Using his deceased mother to get empathy and compassion from a police officer.