Washington (AFP) – The Atlanta police chief resigned on Saturday after a police officer fatally injured a suspect during an attempted arrest, and protests erupted to protest the death of the victim, a 27 year old African American.
Protesters blocked a freeway and torched Wendy’s fast food restaurant near which Rayshard Brooks was shot during a confrontation with police, local media reported.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, whose name has been put forward as a possible running mate of Democrat Joe Biden for the November presidential election, announced the resignation of Erika Shields, who had been in charge of the Atlanta Police Force for more. 20 years old.
“Because of her desire for Atlanta to be a model of what meaningful reform should be across the country, Erika Shields tendered her immediate resignation as chief of police,” the mayor said in televised statements.
The facts occurred Friday evening in Atlanta, capital of the state of Georgia.
They come as numerous protests against police violence and racism have been taking place for weeks in the United States and other countries, following the death of George Floyd, an African-American who died of suffocation by a police officer in Minneapolis, in the northern United States.
Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old black man, fell asleep in his car on the drive-through driveway at Wendy’s restaurant, according to an official report, and facility workers called the police because his vehicle blocked customers.
The man was alcoholic and resisted when police tried to arrest him, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation report said.
CCTV footage shows “that during a physical struggle with the officers, Brooks grabbed the Taser from one of the officers and fled,” the report said.
“The officers pursued Brooks on foot and during the chase Brooks turned and pointed the Taser at the officer. The officer used his gun, hitting Brooks,” the document reads.
Brooks was rushed to a hospital and underwent surgery but died soon after, the report says, which adds an officer was injured.
The mayor said the officer who fired the fatal shot should be removed from office.
The latter, identified as Garrett Rolfe, was fired from the Atlanta police force, and a second police officer was suspended, according to ABC News.
