Rayshard Brooks, Dead at 27
Another Black person was killed after a police encounter. Two words, Police brutality. Another African American In this next blog post I will be talking to you about another African American that was killed by the police in Atlanta at Wendy’s drive-through. When is it going to stop? Will it ever stop? What will my children have to go through? So much uncertainty nowadays. It is sad to see when everything is started to be videoed and documented. There was a person named Rayshard Brooks and he was only 27 years old. He was driving through Wendy’s drive-through and fell asleep. The employees of that Wendy’s called the police because they didn’t know what the car was doing and weren’t trying to get into anything. Mr. Brooks was a father of three girls who were one, two, and eight with a 13-year-old stepson. Mr. Brooks’ daughter was waiting for him to return home with her birthday dress on. Rashard did not know June 12th, 2020 was going to be his last day on earth.
It all started when the cops showed up and told him to pull into a parking spot. The two officers’ names were Officer Brosnan and Officer Rolfe. At first Officer, Brosnan showed up at the scene and then called for backup and that was when officer Rolfe showed up. Mr. Brooks was complying with the officers. In the article, “Rayshard Brooks: What happened before police shot him dead?” “Brooks mentions to the cops that he has been drinking at his daughter’s birthday party and that he was compiling with the officers.” This is giving you context that he is admitting to doing something he shouldn’t be doing and showing you that he is answering the cops. Then when officer Rolfe was trying to arrest him he started to resist the arrest. While he was tussling with the cops he managed to get away but with one of the officers’ tasers in hand. While he was trying to run away he had one of his arms back and was shooting with the taser. He wasn’t directly pointing it at the officers. It was a blind shot behind him while he was trying to get away because he feared for his life. Mr. Rolfe dropped his taser and grabbed his gun and fires three times in Mr. Brook’s direction. He missed one shot but hit him with the other 2 shots in the back. While he fell to the ground he was looking blood and prosecutors said “Mr. Rolfe kicks Mr. Brooks as he laid on the ground and the other officer having a foot on his shoulder while they wait for the ambulance.” stated, “Rayshard Brooks: What happened before police shot him dead?” Once the ambulance arrived, Mr. Brooks needed to undergo surgery but then after he was announced dead due to losing too much blood and an organ injury. In this situation, there were no reasons why a deadly force needed to happen to Mr. Brooks. He was drunk, he lived right down the street, and he would’ve been on foot while the officer would have been in their cars. This situation could have been handled a lot better without deadly forces. According to, “Ex-Officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks shot a suspect three times in 2015 and was concerned” “Garrett Rolfe is facing felony murder and other charges related to Brooks” as he should. This is no exception for him to be shooting to kill someone that does not have a deadly weapon in his hand.
Image Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53052077
Shortly after this incident the videos of the bystanders and the security footage from the wendys went viral. Protesters protested and they just poured fuel on the fire. This incident was after the George Floyd incident and it was embarrassing how officers were just brushing this off and not listening to what the Black lives matter movement is for. While Mr. Brook’s family decided to speak out about what happened to Mr. Brooks. As stated in, “Rayshard Brooks family call for murder charges after killing the police” “There’s no justice that can ever make me feel happy about what’s been done. I can never get my husband and best friend back.” Said Brooks’ wife, Tomika Miller. She also stated that “She was urging protesters to remain peaceful during the protests so his name can remain “positive and great.” She wanted to keep his name remembered peacefully. She was devastated by what happened and it is hard to move on to something like that. This situation could have been handled in plenty of different ways. There’s no way at all that he needed to shoot to kill for a person running away from two police officers. It is time we find better solutions to police brutality. We shouldn’t be afraid to leave our homes to encounter a bad situation with the police.
