Police chief found in Atlanta resigns after officer fatally shot African American man
14 June, 2020
The police chief in america city of Atlanta resigned after an officer fatally shot a black man during an arrest, the mayor said on Saturday (Jun 13), with the brand new killing injecting fresh anger into protests against racism and police brutality.
Demonstrators blocked a great interstate highway and collection alight the Wendy's where 27-year-aged Rayshard Brooks was killed late Saturday.
This came hours after Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced the resignation of police chief Erika Shields.
"I do not believe this is justified utilization of deadly force and also have called for the immediate termination of the officer," Bottoms said at a news meeting.
Brooks had been asleep found in his car at a good Wendy's fast food cafe drive-through late Fri, and employees called police to complain he was blocking other customers, an official report said.
He failed a good sobriety ensure that you resisted when police tried to arrest him, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.
Surveillance video showed "that throughout a physical have a problem with officers, Brooks obtained one of the officer's Tasers and started to flee from the picture", the report continued.
"Officers pursued Brooks on foot and through the chase, Brooks turned and pointed the Taser at the officer. The officer fired his weapon, impressive Brooks," it stated.
Brooks was taken to a hospital but died after medical procedures, it said, adding that an individual officer was injured.
A large number of protesters gathered by late afternoon around the spot south of downtown where in fact the man was first shot and killed.
An Atlanta police spokesperson identified the authorities officer who completed the shooting as Garrett Rolfe. He was dismissed from the force on Saturday, as the second officer was located on administrative duty, according to ABC News.
The unrest comes as the united states faces a historic reckoning on systemic racism, with mass civil unrest ignited by the May well 25 killing of another African American man, George Floyd, while in police custody.
Floyd died after a good white Minneapolis officer knelt on his neck for practically nine minutes.
Protests which spread primary around the country then your globe in the weeks since, have got forced a conversation on the legacies of slavery, colonialism and light violence against persons of color, and also the militarisation of law enforcement in America.
Shields had worked for Atlanta's police section for more than two decades.
"Due to her desire that Atlanta be considered a style of what meaningful reform should look like across this region, Chief Shields has wanted to immediately step aside as police chief," the mayor said in televised comments.
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com
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