Black residents shot dead by police in Atlanta-US, police chief resigns
Monday, June 15, 2020
UPDATimes - The police chief in Atlanta, United States, resigned following the fatal shooting of an African-American man who fell asleep in his car in front of a drive-through service restaurant.
Rayshard Brooks, 27, was shot by a police officer during a scuffle on Friday night, authorities said.
This is the second death incident of African-Americans by police in three weeks, following the case of George Floyd in Minneapolis that has sparked protests against racism in various parts of the world.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said, Chief of Police Erika Shields submitted his resignation on Saturday (13/06).
Protesters in Atlanta took to the streets this weekend to demand action after Brooks' death.
On Saturday night, demonstrators closed the main highway on Atlanta, Interstate-75. The fast food restaurant which was the site of Brooks' death was also set on fire.
Over the past three weeks, people across the US have been protesting over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after having his neck pressed against the knee of a police officer.
Erika Shields has served as police chief since December 2016 and has worked in the Atlanta police department for more than 20 years. He will continue to work in the department in other roles, Mayor Bottoms said.
"Because of his desire for Atlanta to become a model of reform in this country, Shields resigned as chief of police so the city could move forward and rebuild the much-needed trust in our society," Mayor Bottoms said in a statement.
One Atlanta police officer involved in the shooting, Garrett Rolfe, has been fired, and another police officer, Devin Bronsan, has been placed on administrative duty. Each has served for six and two years in the Atlanta police.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is investigating Brooks' death and looking at videos from security cameras inside fast food restaurants as well as footage from witnesses.
They said the police were called to the restaurant because Brooks slept in his car, which blocked the vehicle lane.
According to police, Brooks refused arrest after not passing the breathalyzer test (a test to measure alcohol levels in the breath).
A protester stands near Wendy's restaurant in Atlanta.
Brooks is seen on the ground outside the restaurant, fighting with two police officers.
He grabs the officer's electric gun (Taser) and escapes, then runs away. Another officer then successfully used a Taser on Brooks and the two officers then ran to the camera frame.
Shots can then be heard and Brooks is seen on the ground.
He was taken to the hospital but later died. One officer was treated for injury.
The Fulton District Prosecutors' Office conducted a separate investigation into the incident, the agency said in a statement.
Lawyers representing Brooks' family said that police officers had no right to use lethal force, saying the Taser taken by Brooks was a non-lethal weapon.
"You can't shoot someone unless they point a gun at you," lawyer Chris Stewart said.
Brooks should bring his eight-year-old daughter surfing on Saturday to celebrate her birthday, said the lawyer representing his family.
This is the 48th shooting case involving police officers who were investigated by the Georgia Investigation Bureau this year, according to ABC News. Of those cases, 15 of them were fatal.
A number of protesters gathered outside the restaurant scene on Friday, according to the New York Times newspaper.
The protest then resumed in downtown Atlanta on Saturday. The pictures from the demonstration showed the demonstrators holding up boards with the names Brooks and Black Lives Matter.
This incident occurred when people in Atlanta held a protest following the death of George Floyd. He died on May 25 after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes. The officer has been fired and charged with second-degree murder.
Demonstrations have taken place in various regions of the US and around the world since Floyd's death. Many people in the US are demanding that the police be reformed.
In Minneapolis, where Floyd died, the city council passed a resolution Friday to replace the police department with a community-led public security system.
The council said it would begin a year-long process to talk "with every member of the public who is willing to be in Minneapolis" to produce a new model of public safety.
In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered the police department to carry out major reforms. He also said he would stop financing local governments that failed to adopt reforms to overcome the use of excessive force and bias in the police department in April.
President Donald Trump said on Friday that the chokehold technique to hold some suspects "in general" must end.
He postponed his first post-quarantine presidential election campaign in Tulsa, Oklahoma so that it did not fall on June 19, a date commemorating the end of US slavery.
Trump moved the rally to the 20th, after being criticized. The location is also controversial, because it is the site of one of the worst racial massacres in US history that occurred in 1921.
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