City of Atlanta reinstates officer fired after shooting, killing fleeing Rayshard Brooks
Officer Garrett Rolfe will be on administrative leave while it is determined what will happen with charges, which are in limbo for now
Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe, though still facing uncertain charges in the shooting death of fleeing suspect Rayshard Brooks last June, was reinstated by the City of Atlanta Wednesday. (Screenshot: Atlanta Police Department Video)
Atlanta police Wednesday reinstated officer Garrett Rolfe, who was fired for killing Rayshard Brooks outside a Wendy’s last year and charged with his murder. The Atlanta Civil Service Board reversed the termination of Rofle’s employment, saying the fired officer was “not afforded his right to due process.”
He will now be placed on administrative leave because the terms of his bond on murder and 10 other felony and misdemeanor charges mean he is banned from possessing a firearm or being around other police officers. Rolfe, 27, shot Brooks, also 27, twice after Brooks fired a stolen Taser at him as he was in pursuit in the fast food outlet’s parking lot on June 12. Video shows Brroks firing the Taser at Rolfe’s head as he neared the exit of the parking lot on foot.
Rolfe and fellow Officer Devin Brosnan, 26, had been called to the restaurant when customers reported a man was asleep at the wheel of his vehicle and blocking other drive-thru traffic. After 40 minutes of calm conversation, a scuffle broke out when the officers tried to arrest Brooks. He stole Brosnan’s taser, began running and pointed it behind him, firing in the direction of the pursuing officers.
Rolfe, a six-year police veteran, was charged with 11 counts over Brooks’ death including felony murder. He was also fired by the Atlanta Police Department one day after the fatal shooting. Rolfe and his legal team have repeatedly challenged the investigation into Brooks’ death, including lodging the appeal over his firing, filing a lawsuit against the mayor and police chief and calling for the first district attorney prosecuting his case to be removed.
“Due to the City’s failure to comply with several provisions of the Code and the information received during witnesses’ testimony, the Board concludes the Appellant was not afforded his right to due process,” the board concluded Wednesday. “Therefore, the Board grants the Appeal of Garrett Rolfe and revokes his dismissal as an employee of the APD.”
However, the decision does not mean Rolfe will return to work as law enforcement officer, his attorney Lance LoRusso America’s Conservative Voice (ACV), due to the aforementioned bond conditions. Rolfe had lodged an appeal against his firing last month, claiming the force dismissed him without following the correct procedures and that his rights were “grossly violated.”
In a hearing of the Atlanta Civil Service Board on April 22, LoRusso said Rolfe was not given enough time to respond to his “notice of proposed adverse action” — typically a 10-day period — before he was fired. He also argued that then-Police Chief Erika Shields did not sign Rolfe’s dismissal form, resigning her position that same afternoon. Shields is now head of the Louisville Metro Police Department in Kentucky.
Police Chief Erika Shields resigned from the position in Atlanta before she could sign a dismissal form of Officer Garrett Rolfe, an issue Rolfe used to win an appeal of his firing after the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks. Shields has since become Chief of the Lousiville, Kentucky police department. (Photo: Lynn Dockery/Atlanta Constitution)
Instead, his dismissal form was signed by the assistant chief Todd Coyt, who testified before the Civil Service Board that he believed Rolfe behaved appropriately during the fatal shooting. He said Rolfe and Brosnan had ”acted accordingly and … were trying to show compassion and did everything they could to calm the situation down.”
Rolfe’s attorney also said Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms pushed for his immediate firing in a press briefing, leaving the officer without a fair amount of time to defend himself against his ousting.
“It is clear that we do not have another day, another minute, another hour to waste,” Bottoms said at the time. Following the Wednesday announcement by the Board, the attorneys for Brooks’ family were expected to hold a press conference to respond to the board’s ruling.
Rolfe’s reinstatement has no bearing on his murder charges. However, the future of those charges and any trial for Rolfe or Brosnan have been in question for several months.
The officer was charged with felony murder and 10 other offenses over the shooting death of Brooks. Rolfe was released June 30 last year after posting $500,000 bond. In August, prosecutors asked a judge to revoke his bond saying he violated the terms of his release by traveling to Florida without permission.
Brosnan was charged with aggravated assault and violating his oath. He was not fired from the force but was placed on desk duty following the shooting. Both officers have maintained their actions were justified, but then-Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard brought the charges against the officers less than five days after the incident.
Fani Willis then took office as District Attorney in January and sought to recuse her office from the case, citing her predecessor’s mishandling of the investigation. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr denied her recusal request, leaving the case up in the air with no prosecutor and awaiting a judge’s decision to decide on the next steps.
Brooks was killed on June 12 as he ran from the two officers in the Wendy’s drive-thru. Bodycam and dashcam footage shows the officers arriving on the scene to find the father of four asleep at the wheel of his car. The officers and Brooks are seen having a calm conversation for more than 40 minutes with Brooks initially cooperating with the officers.
Rayshard Brooks failed the field sobriety test Officers Rolfe and Brosnan asked him to do and resisted arrest, stealing Brosnan’s Taser and firing it at Rolfe as he attempted to escape. (Screenshot: Wendy’s Security Video)
When Brooks failed a field sobriety test and the officers tried to arrest him, a scuffle broke out. Brooks then managed to grab one of the officer’s Tasers and ran away. He was shot twice by Rolfe, video showing that Brooks turned and fired the Taser in Rolfe’s direction.
Brooks was pronounced dead in a nearby hospital soon afterwards. An autopsy found he was shot twice in the back. Brooks’ death came less than a month after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin arrested man George Floyd, who died in custody after Chauvin’s questionable use of a restraint that placed his knee on the back and neck of Floyd for more than nine minutes.
Footage of Floyd's death ssparked protests in multiple U.S. cities, including Atlanta as BLM and other black activists promoted the false narratives of “police brutality” and “systematic racism.” Brooks' death reignited tensions and sparked protests in Atlanta last June. The Wendy's where he was killed was torched to the ground during BLM-inspired violence and riots at the time.
Rolfe’s appeal has been based on his belief the city and police force did not handle the case correctly. He has long contended that his firing coming just 24 hours after the shooting was “a rush to judgment.” Having his appeal upheld may have a positive influence in his lawsuit against Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Interim Police Chief Rodney Bryant, in which Rolfe claims they violated his civil rights when they fired him.
He filed the lawsuit in Fulton County Superior Court in August, saying his firing violated his constitutional rights and the city code. This came one month after his attorneys sought to remove then-D.A. Howard from the case.
Howard repeatedly made comments that inflamed public sentiment against the officer, issued contradictory statements about whether a stun gun is a deadly weapon and is now under investigation himself, Rolfe's attorneys argued. The prosecutor has denied he illegally converted $140,000 in city funds to supplement his county salary.
Following those allegations, Howard was beaten in the run-off race by Willis amid questions about his use of city funds, his handling of the cases against Rolfe and Brosnan and allegations of harassment of female employees in his office..
As a result, in February Rolfe's attorneys filed to have all charges dismissed because there was no prosecutor on the case following Willis' attempted recusal. It will be up to a judge to determine the future of those charges. It is likely they will be withdrawn at the jurist’s order.