Garrett Rolfe, the officer who was fired after fatally shooting Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta last summer has been reinstated on Wednesday to his position on the Atlanta Police Department after it was determined that the city failed to give the officer his due process.
According to the City of Atlanta’s Civil Service Board, the city failed to uphold several legal requirements while handling Rolfe.
“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. Therefore, the Board GRANTS the Appeal of Garrett Rolfe and revokes his dismissal as an employee of the APD,” the board stated in its findings, released Wednesday.
On June 12, 2020, Rolfe shot and killed Brooks in an Atlanta Wendy’s parking lot after Brooks attacked Rolfe and another officer as they were trying to arrest him.
In a video of the incident, Rolfe can be seen administering a breathalyzer test for Brooks and asking him what he had been drinking that night. After concluding he had too much to drink, the officers attempted to arrest Brooks and a scuffle occurred.
Addition video shows Brooks had pulled a taser from one of the officer’s belts and broke away from the police. Brooks attempted to flee, but Rolfe pursued him, firing his taser. Brooks can be seen turning back and firing the stolen taser before Rolfe pulled his handgun and fired, killing Brooks.
Days after the incident, Rolfe was charged with felony murder for shooting Brooks, in addition to five counts of aggravated assault, a single count of first-degree criminal damage to property and four counts of violation of oath by an officer, according to charging documents reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The charges prompted a slew of officers to call out of work in protestation of what they considered to be unfair treatment of their fellow officer.
“NEW: ATL Police Union spokeman Vince Champion tells me that officers around the city are protesting the charges announced against officers Rolfe and Brosnan. He says they’re walking off the job, not responding to calls unless backup is needed, and going silent on the radios,” NBC producer Charlie Gile tweeted. “‘This is not an organized thing, it’s not a blue flu, it’s not a strike, it’s nothing like that. What it actually is is officers protesting that they’ve had enough and they don’t want to deal with it any longer,’ Champion says.”
