The Atlanta Police Department released video footage from the body cameras that two police officers were wearing when they interacted with Rayshard Brooks on Friday night, and the footage appears to contradict many of the claims that are being made by Democrat politicians and the media about what transpired.
Police were called to a Wendy’s restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia, because Brooks, 27, had fallen asleep behind the wheel of a car while in the drive-through, which was disrupting the movement of vehicles that were in line. The interaction between the police and Brooks was mostly calm until the attempted arrest following his breathalyzer, which showed that he was driving while drunk.
“These new videos indicate that during a physical struggle with officers, Brooks obtained one of the officer’s Tasers and began to flee from the scene,” the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said. “Officers pursued Brooks on foot and during the chase, Brooks turned and pointed the Taser at the officer. The officer fired his weapon, striking Brooks.”
The New York Times reported that Brooks was shot by the police officer who was chasing him after Brooks “looks behind him, points the Taser he is holding in Officer Rolfe’s direction, and fires it.”
Despite this information, many in the media and Democrat Party have claimed that Brooks was “murdered” while he was “complying” with the police officers and was being “cooperative.” They have also claimed that Brooks had just fallen “asleep in” the car and was “not drivin[g]” and that he was “running for his life” because the police were the ones who “had to escalate it.”
Such claims are disputed by the body camera footage that was released by the Atlanta Police Department, which shows that the interaction that the officers and Brooks had was mostly respectful up until the moment the officers tried to place him under arrest for drunk driving, at which time Brooks tried to run, got into a psychical altercation with the officers, took one of their tasers, began running, and then fired the taser at one of the officers who was in pursuit.
WATCH:
Watch the footage yourself… https://t.co/1H6fsnLjpL
— Lisa Boothe (@LisaMarieBoothe) June 14, 2020
Former Georgia Democrat gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams told ABC News on Sunday: “There’s a legitimacy to this anger, there’s a legitimacy to this outrage. A man was murdered because he was asleep in a drive-through and we know that this is not an isolated occurrence.”
CNN Law Enforcement Analyst James Gagliano, who has worked for the FBI for 25 years and is an adjunct assistant professor in homeland security and criminal justice at St. John’s University, strongly pushed back on Abrams’ claim, writing on Twitter: “That’s NOT why Rayshard Brooks was shot, killed by APD, [Stacey Abrams]. We’re fellow Georgians — and I was actually raised in Atlanta. But distorting what occurred for political expediency is shameful. Brooks NOT ‘murdered because he was asleep in a drive-through.’ Stop pandering.”
That’s NOT why Rayshard Brooks was shot, killed by APD, @staceyabrams. We’re fellow Georgians — and I was actually raised in Atlanta. But distorting what occurred for political expediency is shameful. Brooks NOT “murdered because he was asleep in a drive-through.” Stop pandering. https://t.co/yWYbRsJgth
— James A. Gagliano (@JamesAGagliano) June 14, 2020
Gagliano later wrote an in-depth piece picking apart many of the arguments that Democrats and members of the media were making about the incident.
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