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June 15, 2020

Atlanta DA considering murder charges against police officer who shot Rayshard Brooks

By Thomas Lifson

The mob demands a scalp in Atlanta, and the Fulton County district attorney is telling the media he may give it to them, the facts be damned.  The mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms, a V.P. nomination contender, didn't need to wait for an investigation before firing the cop and accepting the resignation of the chief of police:

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced the police chief's resignation at a Saturday afternoon news conference, and had called for the immediate firing of the officer who opened fire.

"I do not believe that this was a justified use of deadly force," Bottoms said.

She said it was Shields' own decision to step aside and that she would remain with the city in an undetermined role. Interim Corrections Chief Rodney Bryant will serve as interim police chief.

Even after seeing the body cam footage, the D.A. has concluded that police misbehavior is at issue.  The attorney who writes under the name Shipwreckedcrew writes at RedState:

"[Brooks] did not seem to present any threat to anyone. The fact that it would escalate to his death seems unreasonable," Fulton County DA Paul Howard said to Fredericka Whitfield of CNN.

If the view of the Fulton DA is that video shown around the world shows Brooks was not a "threat to anyone", then I expect it might come to pass that there are widespread resignations from the Atlanta PD.

The attorney hired by the family of Rayshard Brooks started gaslighting the public yesterday in a press conference when he said "In Georgia, a taser is not a deadly weapon."  He MIGHT be correct — although there are many anecdotal cases of tasers causing death from the reaction that some have to being tased with a sudden jolt of electricity.

But his comment is not accurate in the sense that Atlanta PD policy — just revised last month — says police may use deadly force in response to a subject possessing "ANY object, device, or instrument which, when used offensively against a person, is likely to or actually does result in serious bodily injury."   So whether at taser is a "deadly weapon" is irrelevant to the question of whether the officer was justified in his actions.

The dashboard and body cam video of the incident is available, and it shows that the interaction with police was polite and normal until the moment came when handcuffs were being put on the subject, at which point he became violent and was able to escape from the hold of two cops, grab the taser, run away, and turn as if to fire the taser at the officers pursuing him.  This absolutely meets the official Atlanta P.D. criteria for use of deadly force in response to a subject possessing "ANY object, device, or instrument which, when used offensively against a person, is likely to or actually does result in serious bodily injury."

Here are some cropped screen grabs, and you can watch the video for yourself directly below them.

Brooks begins to struggle when handcuffed

Brooks starts to break free

Brooks points taser at the officers

Brooks runs away and again points taser at officers just before they fire guns at him

Stacey Abrams, the failed candidate for governor of Georgia who persisted in the delusion that she had won despite a 50,000-vote shortfall of a majority, is disgracefully claiming that Brooks was murdered for the crime of sleeping in his car, language clearly intended to inflame emotions and cause more violence.  Perhaps the fact that she has not been called in for screening as Biden's V.P. has driven her mad:

Photo credit: Twitter video screen grabs, cropped.

The mob demands a scalp in Atlanta, and the Fulton County district attorney is telling the media he may give it to them, the facts be damned.  The mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance Bottoms, a V.P. nomination contender, didn't need to wait for an investigation before firing the cop and accepting the resignation of the chief of police:

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced the police chief's resignation at a Saturday afternoon news conference, and had called for the immediate firing of the officer who opened fire.

"I do not believe that this was a justified use of deadly force," Bottoms said.

She said it was Shields' own decision to step aside and that she would remain with the city in an undetermined role. Interim Corrections Chief Rodney Bryant will serve as interim police chief.

Even after seeing the body cam footage, the D.A. has concluded that police misbehavior is at issue.  The attorney who writes under the name Shipwreckedcrew writes at RedState:

"[Brooks] did not seem to present any threat to anyone. The fact that it would escalate to his death seems unreasonable," Fulton County DA Paul Howard said to Fredericka Whitfield of CNN.

If the view of the Fulton DA is that video shown around the world shows Brooks was not a "threat to anyone", then I expect it might come to pass that there are widespread resignations from the Atlanta PD.

The attorney hired by the family of Rayshard Brooks started gaslighting the public yesterday in a press conference when he said "In Georgia, a taser is not a deadly weapon."  He MIGHT be correct — although there are many anecdotal cases of tasers causing death from the reaction that some have to being tased with a sudden jolt of electricity.

But his comment is not accurate in the sense that Atlanta PD policy — just revised last month — says police may use deadly force in response to a subject possessing "ANY object, device, or instrument which, when used offensively against a person, is likely to or actually does result in serious bodily injury."   So whether at taser is a "deadly weapon" is irrelevant to the question of whether the officer was justified in his actions.

The dashboard and body cam video of the incident is available, and it shows that the interaction with police was polite and normal until the moment came when handcuffs were being put on the subject, at which point he became violent and was able to escape from the hold of two cops, grab the taser, run away, and turn as if to fire the taser at the officers pursuing him.  This absolutely meets the official Atlanta P.D. criteria for use of deadly force in response to a subject possessing "ANY object, device, or instrument which, when used offensively against a person, is likely to or actually does result in serious bodily injury."

Here are some cropped screen grabs, and you can watch the video for yourself directly below them.

Brooks begins to struggle when handcuffed

Brooks starts to break free

Brooks points taser at the officers

Brooks runs away and again points taser at officers just before they fire guns at him

Stacey Abrams, the failed candidate for governor of Georgia who persisted in the delusion that she had won despite a 50,000-vote shortfall of a majority, is disgracefully claiming that Brooks was murdered for the crime of sleeping in his car, language clearly intended to inflame emotions and cause more violence.  Perhaps the fact that she has not been called in for screening as Biden's V.P. has driven her mad:

Photo credit: Twitter video screen grabs, cropped.