A new name has been added to the list of people killed by police in the United States this year. Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old black man, father of four, was fatally shot by a white policeman, who tried to arrest him, Friday, June 12, in Atlanta, Georgia, bringing to 472 the number of victims of police fire since the 1is January, according to a count of Washington Post.
As tens of thousands of people took to the streets again this weekend to protest police violence and racism, the death of Rayshard Brooks reinforced demands for the implementation of urgent reforms within the forces of order. The immediate reaction of the local authorities to this new tragedy would tend to show that the demands for transparency expressed by the demonstrators were partly heard.
Expeditious procedures
In less than twenty-four hours, the police chief resigned, the officer involved was sacked, his colleague assigned to administrative tasks and the images from the cameras of the police officers were broadcast. Expeditious procedures, breaking with the deadlines usually requested for investigations conducted internally by law enforcement officials, which fuel criticism of the lack of sanctions against offending police officers. The Atlanta prosecutor announced on Sunday that the decision whether or not to prosecute the officer would be made as early as this week.
The terms of this fatal arrest have nothing in common with the one that led to the death of George Floyd, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, and provoked protests across the country. According to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) report, the young man’s confrontation with the police lasted more than forty minutes, during which the first exchanges were calm and courteous.
When the police arrived, the man, who had fallen asleep drunk at the wheel of his car, stopped in the drive-in of a fast food chain, agreed to take a breathalyzer test. But he gets agitated when officials want to handcuff him. A struggle ensues. Rayshard Brooks manages to grab a Taser from one of the cops and runs away, pointing the electric pulse pistol at the officer. Feeling threatened, the latter fired three shots, hitting the victim twice in the back. The man collapses and will die in hospital.
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