Protests initially ignited by the May 25 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police continued over the weekend, as anti-racism protesters …
Protests initially ignited by the May 25 death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police continued over the weekend, as anti-racism protesters in the United States sought to call attention to the deaths of two more black men and Black Lives Matter demonstrations unfolded in London and Paris.
Early Sunday, Atlanta police announced that an officer, Garrett Rolfe, had been fired following the fatal shooting of Rayshard Brooks,27, on Friday night, and another officer, Devin Brosnan, had been placed on administrative duty. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has called for the immediate firing of the officer who opened fire on Brooks at a press conference Saturday evening, where she also announced that she had accepted the resignation of Police Chief Erika Shields.
“I do not believe that this was a justified use of deadly force,” Bottoms said.
Roughly 150 protesters marched outside the Wendy’s restaurant outside where Brooks was shot, reigniting demonstrations that had largely simmered in the Georgia capital nearly three weeks after Floyd, another black man, died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee to his neck. Both Rolfe and Brosnan are white.
The Wendy’s was set aflame at one point Saturday night, although the fire was out before midnight. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said that Brooks, who was seen on body camera video sleeping in a car blocking the Wendy’s drive thru, failed a sobriety test and was shot in a struggle over a police Taser.
Stacey Abrams, the Georgia Democrat who gained national prominence running for governor in 2018, tweeted that “sleeping in a drive-thru must not end in death.”
In Palmdale, California, hundreds of people on Saturday marched to demand an investigation into the death of Robert Fuller,24, who was found hanging from a tree early Wednesday near city hall.
