There is so much fucking going on today. The Atlanta D.A. charged Garrett Rolfe with felony murder (they must have a different felony murder law than Florida) and charged Officer Bosnan with something, I don't know yet. The D.A. said:
Prosecutor: Officers stood on Rayshard Brooks’ shoulder, kicked him while he lay on the ground struggling for life
(WaPo)
And then Atlanta P.D. walked off the job.
I don't even know what this headline means:
I don't even know what this headline means:
Atlanta Mayor Says to Order Police to De-escalate, Intervene
(NYT)
In a separate NYT article:
At a news conference on Wednesday to announce the charges, prosecutors said that Mr. Rolfe declared, “I got him,” after firing the fatal shots at Mr. Brooks. Mr. Rolfe kicked the victim, prosecutors said, while his partner stood on the fatally wounded man’s shoulder.
Mr. Rolfe and his partner, Devin Brosnan, both of whom are white, then failed to render aid for more than two minutes, said Paul L. Howard Jr., the Fulton County district attorney.
...
In announcing the charges against the officers, Howard said that “Mr. Brooks never presented himself as a threat.”
[OBJECTION! What is he talking about? I could see APD walking out on that comment alone.]
In fact, while Mr. Brooks appeared “slightly impaired,” Mr. Howard said, “his demeanor during this incident was almost jovial.”
[It was--until Rolfe and Brosnan went to cuff him! He ceased to be jovial then.]
“For 41 minutes and 17 seconds, he followed their instructions, he answered questions,” Mr. Howard said, adding that Mr. Brooks was not informed that he would be arrested for driving under the influence, a violation of the Police Department’s policy.
Officials from the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, the union representing Atlanta officers, denounced the charges against both officers as premature and politically motivated, as Mr. Howard is locked in a tight re-election race. They said prosecutors should have waited until the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which is leading an investigation into the shooting, announces its findings.
The G.B.I. said in a statement on Wednesday that the agency had not been consulted by prosecutors before they brought the charges. “Although we have made significant progress in the case,” the G.B.I. said, “we have not completed our work.”
[Howard, what the fuck?]
...
Legal experts said that the charges came surprisingly quick, and were significant for their severity, with punishment that could extend to life in prison or even the death penalty if Mr. Rolfe is convicted.
In a separate NYT article:
At a news conference on Wednesday to announce the charges, prosecutors said that Mr. Rolfe declared, “I got him,” after firing the fatal shots at Mr. Brooks. Mr. Rolfe kicked the victim, prosecutors said, while his partner stood on the fatally wounded man’s shoulder.
Mr. Rolfe and his partner, Devin Brosnan, both of whom are white, then failed to render aid for more than two minutes, said Paul L. Howard Jr., the Fulton County district attorney.
...
In announcing the charges against the officers, Howard said that “Mr. Brooks never presented himself as a threat.”
[OBJECTION! What is he talking about? I could see APD walking out on that comment alone.]
In fact, while Mr. Brooks appeared “slightly impaired,” Mr. Howard said, “his demeanor during this incident was almost jovial.”
[It was--until Rolfe and Brosnan went to cuff him! He ceased to be jovial then.]
“For 41 minutes and 17 seconds, he followed their instructions, he answered questions,” Mr. Howard said, adding that Mr. Brooks was not informed that he would be arrested for driving under the influence, a violation of the Police Department’s policy.
Officials from the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, the union representing Atlanta officers, denounced the charges against both officers as premature and politically motivated, as Mr. Howard is locked in a tight re-election race. They said prosecutors should have waited until the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which is leading an investigation into the shooting, announces its findings.
The G.B.I. said in a statement on Wednesday that the agency had not been consulted by prosecutors before they brought the charges. “Although we have made significant progress in the case,” the G.B.I. said, “we have not completed our work.”
[Howard, what the fuck?]
...
Legal experts said that the charges came surprisingly quick, and were significant for their severity, with punishment that could extend to life in prison or even the death penalty if Mr. Rolfe is convicted.
...
Prosecutors said they benefited from videos and photographs that clearly detailed the shooting and the interaction between Mr. Brooks and the officers, including videos taken by bystanders and footage from the officers’ body and dashboard cameras.
[That is true. The whole damn thing was caught cameras from every which angle.]
Mr. Howard said he also heard from witnesses, including one man, Melvin Evans, whose sport utility vehicle was hit by one of the officer’s bullets.
[So one of the cars, the gray one or the white one was hit.]
“He was, like, 10 feet away from the truck,” Mr. Evans said of Mr. Brooks. “It was that close.”
[Truck? I didn't see any truck. The gray vehicle that Brooks collapsed beside was clearly a car. Now I have to look at the fucking video again. Une momento...
WHAT TRUCK?! WHAT SUV?!Brooks is going down at the rear of that gray CAR and just in front of that white CAR. Is that SUV in the center of that photograph the one Evans was in? There's no way that SUV got hit with one of Rolfe's bullets. Rolfe and Brooks had both long cleared that SUV and Rolfe was shooting in the opposite direction!]
Prosecutors said they benefited from videos and photographs that clearly detailed the shooting and the interaction between Mr. Brooks and the officers, including videos taken by bystanders and footage from the officers’ body and dashboard cameras.
[That is true. The whole damn thing was caught cameras from every which angle.]
Mr. Howard said he also heard from witnesses, including one man, Melvin Evans, whose sport utility vehicle was hit by one of the officer’s bullets.
[So one of the cars, the gray one or the white one was hit.]
“He was, like, 10 feet away from the truck,” Mr. Evans said of Mr. Brooks. “It was that close.”
[Truck? I didn't see any truck. The gray vehicle that Brooks collapsed beside was clearly a car. Now I have to look at the fucking video again. Une momento...
WHAT TRUCK?! WHAT SUV?!Brooks is going down at the rear of that gray CAR and just in front of that white CAR. Is that SUV in the center of that photograph the one Evans was in? There's no way that SUV got hit with one of Rolfe's bullets. Rolfe and Brooks had both long cleared that SUV and Rolfe was shooting in the opposite direction!]
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