By Eamonn Burke
Garrett Rolfe, the former Atlanta police officer who murdered Rayshard Brooks in a Wendy’s parking lot on June 12, was released on $500,000 bond. Rolfe faced a felony murder charge among 10 others after a deadly altercation in which Brooks was shot in the back while running away carrying the officer’s taser.
Tomika Miller, Brook’s widow, was emotional at the hearing. She remembered Rayshard Brooks as a loving man and father, and described Rolfe as a threat while pleading the judge not to grant him bail.
“My husband did not deserve to die, and I should not live in fear while waiting for the man who killed my husband to be tried in court,” said Miller. “My life is completely turned upside down since this has happened. I’ve been unable to sleep, eat, or even console my children.”
Rolfe’s lawyers suggested that he had to use deadly force because it was Brooks’ who escalated the altercation and asked for a $50,000 bond initially. They even denied the fact that Rolfe kicked the defenseless Brooks after he was shot, which is shown on video. The prosecutors, on the other hand, wanted at least a $1 million dollar bond and argued that Brooks was not a threat to the officer as he was running away without the taser pointed at Rolfe.
The killing re-ignited protests in the Atlanta area, and has brought policing changes to the Atlanta police department, as it will for the entire nation.
