By Aaron Miller-
A significant number of Atlanta police officers have continued to fail to show up for work on Wednesday night, after their former colleague Garrett Rolfe was charged with murder in the death of Rayshard Brooks, the 27-year-old black man whom the white officer shot in the back last Friday night. The mayor of Atlanta said on Thursday the city may have to call in officers from other jurisdictions.
Rayshard Brooks was waiting to collect food when he was confronted by cops who tried to arrest him, but he resisted arrest and wrestled with one of the officers, eventually seizing his taser from him in the struggle.
Brooks’s death intensified protests in the city after it emerged that Brooks, 27,running away, when he pointed the Taser at the cop, leading to him being shot dead. Prosecutors claim that Rolfe knew the taser was not functional, and that he acted excessively in killing Brooks.
The protests over Brooks’s death added to demonstrations against racism and police brutality across the country following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month, where the 46-year-old was killed after Chauvin was arrested for kneeling on his neck.
“You can’t resist a police officer, and if you have a disagreement, you have to take it up after the fact,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity. “It was out of control – the whole situation was out of control.
The Eye Of Media.Com has heard from sources in Atlanta that many officers who have skipped work are not happy with the decision to charge Rolfe with murder, meaning that they believe he acted reasonably in the circumstances. Some Atlanta Cops doorstepped by reporters in Atlanta said many cops have simply been too busy following up on other cases, insisting there is no shortage of cops to handle the case.
Brooks has been criticised for his decision to wrestle with Rolf and seize his Taser, turning it towards the officer while running away.
Yesterday, U.S president Donald Trump, told Fox News that Broks was at fault to resist a police officer. “You can’t resist a police officer, and if you have a disagreement, you have to take it up after the fact,” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity. “It was out of control – the whole situation was out of control.”
Black youths in Atlanta spoken to believe Brooks wrestled with Rolf because he feared he was going to become the next victim which he eventually became.
” Man after seeing the way George Floyd was killed in broad daylight, a’int many black people want to be arrested by a cop, Timothy Charles, 26 said. If I see a cop trying to arrest me when I know I’ve nothing wrong, I’m gonna think this dude is racist and wants my blood. That’s the way we thinking down here”.
This view was repeated by another black man Marshall Nehisi, 25 said: ”I think Brooks had no trust for the cop with what happened to George Floyd and has been happening to Afro Americans for years. The cops see us as not human, not fit for this planet, that’s why they killing us like flies. Look how many unarmed black men been killed in the past few years.
Many racist join the U.S police force to target black people. They go to our neighbourhoods and find any reason to kill us. Yeah, they know they gonna see a lot of people committing crimes in some of these neighbourhoods because they broke and rejected, so now they got an excuse to kill instead of arresting and doing their jobs”.
When challenged as to what excuse there is to point a taser or anything for that matter at a police officer, he replies ” because you scared they might kill you any second. If I was trying to read Brooks mind, I would say maybe he wanted to taser the officer to weaken him and stop him chasing. He probably did not think the officer will shoot at that point. He processed his thoughts wrongly, but still should not have been killed”.
The contrast in perception is clear when speaking to white folks in Atlanta.
Roy Jacobs 31, told us: ” I think this is all crazy. You can’t resist an armed cop in America and not know there is a risk you may be shot in the process. Whether you are black or white, as far as my knowledge tells me, if you resist a cop in the United States Of America that we all know, it could lead to you being six feet under.
So, I don’t get all the demonstrations on that shooting, the guy should never have taken a taser off a cop and threaten him with it. It sounds like a death wish to me”.
Another white resident of Atlanta, Matthew Jordan said: ”Police brutality is a fact of life, anybody who struggles with a police officer trying to arrest them is stupid I’m afraid. It is best to co-operate and raise any issues later. I’m afraid this is the few times I agree with President Trump’s view on a matter.