(AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
My colleague Shipwreckedcrew reported yesterday on the recent reinstatement of fired police officer Garrett Rolfe to the Atlanta PD.
The decision to reinstate Rolfe, who was fired in the aftermath of the officer-involved shooting death of Rayshard Brooks in a Wendy’s parking lot last June, was made by Atlanta’s Civil Service Board, which ruled that Rolfe’s employment was terminated by former Atlanta police chief Erika Shields without him being given the benefit of due process.
Rolfe had sued the city of Atlanta over the issue in August.
In the aftermath of Brooks’ shooting death, riots broke out at the Wendy’s and elsewhere. The restaurant was destroyed and rioters made its parking lot a “home base” of sorts for their occupation over the next several weeks, which led to the fatal shooting of 8-year-old Secoriea Turner, who was killed after rioters opened fire on a car that made a wrong turn near the Wendy’s parking lot in early July
Black Lives Matter protest erupts in Atlanta after police department REINSTATES white officer Garrett Rolfe as he awaits murder trial for shooting Rayshard Brooks in Wendy s drive-thru
Garrett Rolfe, 27, fatally shot Rayshard Brooks, also 27, twice in the back as he ran from officers outside a Wendy s in Atlanta on June 12
Rolfe was fired by the Atlanta Police Department the following day
The Atlanta Civil Service Board reversed the termination of Rolfe s employment on Wednesday
Dozens of Black Lives Matter protesters descended on Atlanta City Hall to express outrage at the decision
Rolfe is awaiting trial after being charged with 11 counts over Brooks death, including felony murder
Officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks is reinstated
By Richard Fausset New York Times,Updated May 5, 2021, 2 hours ago
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Visitors at a makeshift memorial in June 2020 in front of the Wendyâs restaurant in Atlanta where police officers killed Rayshard Brooks.JOSHUA RASHAAD MCFADDEN/NYT
Garrett Rolfe, the Atlanta police officer who was fired from his job after fatally shooting a Black man, Rayshard Brooks, in a fast-food parking lot, was reinstated on Wednesday by the cityâs Civil Service Board, which found that Rolfeâs firing violated his due process rights.
Rolfe was terminated one day after the shooting, which came a few weeks after the police killing of another Black man, George Floyd, in Minneapolis. The killing of Brooks led to a new round of demonstrations across the United States, including in Atlanta.