MESSAGE
| DATE | 2020-06-20 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [Hangout - NYLXS] ending due process
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The Atlanta Shooting
The facts look more complicated than a felony murder charge.
By
June 19, 2020 6:52 pm ET
Demonstrators protest near a burned out Wendy's restaurant in Atlanta,
June 17.
Photo: erik s lesser/Shutterstock
Progressives have increasingly demanded that prosecutors show restraint
in charging decisions to make the criminal-justice system more
equitable. But when the person being prosecuted is a police officer, the
expectation is the opposite. That’s one way to interpret the 11
charges—including felony murder, which can carry the death
penalty—against former Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe over the
June 12 shooting of Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta.
It’s always dangerous to prejudge a criminal case based on videos and
evidence in the press that may lack context, but certain facts seem
clear. Officer Rolfe suspected Brooks of driving under the influence
after he was found asleep in his car at a Wendy’s drive-through. After a
long conversation and administering a breathalyzer test, Officer Rolfe
tried to arrest Brooks.
Brooks, who had been calm during the encounter, suddenly began to
struggle. He wrestled with Officer Rolfe and the other officer on the
scene, grabbed that officer’s taser, and punched Officer Rolfe. Brooks
ran and Officer Rolfe pursued. Brooks was still carrying the stolen
taser and he fired it backwards at Officer Rolfe. At that point Officer
Rolfe drew his pistol and fired at Brooks three times. Two shots struck
him in the back and killed him.
Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard Jr. brought the charges in a
hurry, and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which is also
investigating the shooting, tweeted that it was “not consulted.” Mr.
Howard, who is fighting for re-election, said at a press conference that
for most of the encounter Brooks “never presented himself as a threat,”
though he ended up physically assaulting and firing a taser at a police
officer.
Mr. Howard brought aggravated assault charges against Atlanta officers
two weeks ago for their use of tasers against college students amid
George Floyd protests. In that press conference, Mr. Howard said “under
Georgia law, a taser is considered as a deadly weapon.” It’s hard to
square those charges with the notion that Brooks’s stealing, brandishing
and firing the taser wasn’t a threat.
None of this means that Officer Rolfe was right to open fire on a
fleeing suspect. The district attorney says the taser had no more
cartridges left after Brooks discharged it. But the situation was moving
fast and Officer Rolfe may not have known that. His defense attorney
says he saw the flash from the taser and thought Brooks could have a
gun. If a thorough investigation found Officer Rolfe showed poor
judgment, he could be disciplined or dismissed (as he was soon after the
shooting). If he is criminally liable, it’s almost certainly of
something less than capital murder.
Yet amid protests and riots over police brutality—arsonists burned down
the Wendy’s where the Brooks shooting took place—prosecutors are under
pressure to pursue maximum charges against officers. Some in the press
and more than a few politicians have been declaring police racist to the
core.
Some Atlanta police effectively went on strike Wednesday after the
charges were announced against Officer Rolfe. They shouldn’t be allowed
to dictate charging decisions any more than protesters or the press. But
officers will take fewer risks in harm’s way if they think prosecutors
will assume the worst about any altercation that ends in violence. The
result will be more violence and disorder.
--
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town
that Brooklyn, like Atlantis, reaches mythological
proportions in the mind of the world - RI Safir 1998
http://www.mrbrklyn.com
DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS - RI Safir 2002
http://www.nylxs.com - Leadership Development in Free Software
http://www.brooklyn-living.com
Being so tracked is for FARM ANIMALS and extermination camps,
but incompatible with living as a free human being. -RI Safir 2013
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