If You Take An Officer's Taser In Fight With The Officer That You Started, You Deserve Getting Shot

Rayshard Brooks, the black man shot by Atlanta police outside a Wendy’s in the city’s Southside Friday night, suffered organ damage and blood loss from two gunshot wounds, the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office determined Sunday after completing an autopsy.

"His cause of death: gunshot wounds of the back," an investigator from the medical examiner’s office told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard released a statement about it Sunday. “Today, members of my staff had the unfortunate duty of witnessing the autopsy of Mr. Brooks as part of our continued investigation.“Because this is a homicide investigation, there are several technical requirements that must be met before we are able to reach a decision. That includes the confirmation of the ballistics involved and obtaining a preliminary report from the Medical Examiner,” according to the DA’s statement.

 

Atlanta DA "based on the footage from body cam video, charges could be brought against the officers."

"from the body cam video, (Brooks) did not seem to present any kind of threat to anyone,
and so the fact that it would escalate to his death just seems unreasonable," "It just seems like
this is not the kind of conversation and incident that should have led to someone's death."​

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/14/us/atlanta-protests-rayshard-brooks-sunday/index.html


When the officers arrive to the scene, Brooks is asleep behind the wheel in the drive-through lane,
according to the body camera video. Footage from both officers' body cameras and from their vehicles shows
them speaking with Brooks for nearly 30 minutes outside the Wendy's.

Brooks says he does not have any weapons on him and the officers pat him down to confirm as much,
the videos show. their interaction was "cordial" and noted that Brooks answered the officers' questions.
​

After Brooks takes a breathalyzer test, one officer tells him to put his hands behind his back and they move to handcuff him. Brooks then resists the arrest
and begins struggling with the officers as they tussle on the ground for about 30 seconds. During the struggle, Brooks grabs an officer's Taser,
escapes their grasp and starts running away from the two, the videos show. "He's got my f---ing Taser,

In summary,

• before the struggle, the officers had confirmed that Brooks had no weapon on him
• after the struggle, they saw Brooks had taking one of their taser, which they know is not a lethal weapon

 

How does that apply to this case then?

That there are justifiable uses of lethal force by LE doesn’t mean that is the case here or that there isn’t systemic bias in the use of force.

 

I thought there was some good civil debate in this thread. And someone that doesn't delve into this forum often have come to the following conclusions on this instance....

1. People should just comply with law enforcement. This is made harder when law enforcement has made it more difficult to be a minority too often.

2. I wish the guy wasnt so stupid as to be drinking and driving and falling asleep in a Wendy's parking lot. Then wrestle with the cops and take their taser? How on Earth do you make so many significant bad decisions in a row?

3. My expectation as a civilian is that in that moment a properly trained officer would understand that the man was unarmed except for the taser and not have drawn his gun. I realize how difficult That must be in the heat of the moment but I still feel like that is a reasonable expectation and the death could have been avoided. The cop should be punished.

 

Rubber bullets are in the less than lethal category but they are crowd control tools and not meant for apprehending or self defense. I’ve also seen first hand what they can do and while death is rare from them they can maim. Someone in my neighborhood lost an eye from getting shot by one two weeks ago.

The truth is there is no absolute safe way of stopping and physically controlling another humans. There is a range of possibly danger but as we’ve seen with Floyd and Eric Garner people can be killed by LE even not using a weapon. What I think we should be focussing on is use of force, when and how to use force, and not so much the particular force used. Anytime you make the decision to use force of any kind there needs to be an understanding of the risk involved with it.

 

Autopsy shows this thug was performing a sick trick.

 

I'm unsure of Georgia's Penal Code, but in Texas, in the use lethal force, an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury must be present.

That isn't the exact wording, but you get the idea.
A taser being discharged at you from a person running away from you doesn't demonstrate this IMO.

The take of this man tasing the officer and taking the his gun has a few problems. First, the officer wasn't alone. Secondly, he fired his weapon after the taser was discharged. Also, the officer has been tased before and survived, as being tased is the usual to be certified to use one. Lastly LEO use specific holsters that have various mechanisms in place to prevent their weapons from being easily taken.

Just a terrible situation all around.

 

Yet you failed to respond subsequent replies to your post.

 

Yikes if true...


Not sure about the Fulton County /Covid out on parole stuff but if the same guy, a lengthy rap sheet in Clayton County

https://www.claytoncountyga.gov/government/courts/court-case-inquiry

Theft
Speeding
Simple Battery Family Violence
Cruelty to children
Interference with custody
...

 

Good post. A couple of things to add. In the video LEO Rolfe switches his taser from his right to his left hand as he's pursuing Brooks. Rolfe reaches for his firearm before Brooks fires his taser at him. That tells me that Rolfe had already made the decision to go to lethal force before Brooks even fires the taser at him.

Regarding the taser taken away that was LEO Brosnan. From the dashcam video it's Rolfe who is trying to control Brook from behind. Brosnan has already drawn his taser and appears to try to apply it to Brooks. He's holding it one handed while Brooks is still struggling. That's how Brooks gets hold of it.

 

Yet all of that does not justify the use of excess force.

 

While this information tells us who Brooks was it doesn't justify his killing. LEO are not prosecutors, judges or executioners.

What matters is the decision in the moment if Brooks was a threat to Rolfe, his partners or the immediate public safety.

 

Agree, he should still be alive but could maybe help explain why he was resisting/fighting, scared of going back. (Again, if true.)

 

I agree that explains why Brook fought back. I don't fault the LEO for trying to arrest him. DUI is a threat to public safety. I also agree that Brooks started the whole thing by resisting arrest. The LEO were justified in trying to restrain him and probably would've been justified to escalate force on him just not clear if lethal force is justified.

 

I think he might be scared. He's just seen video and is no doubt aware of other African Americans who have complied but were beaten or murdered by the police.

 

When a black person is killed. . . they are still put on trial to justify killing them

Rocket River

 

I've yet to year anyone in the media mention a single word about that personal responsibility , haven't seen anyone else here utter a word either .... We're only having half the conversation that needs to be had.

There is no conversation to be had in the Floyd case - that's cut and dried. Straight up murder.

But in this and other cases ... their actions elicit the response. Fight the cop , take his taser , point it at him .... what the hell do you expect the cop to do ?! I find it hard to believe there is any backlash over this case and don't think there would be if not for the national narrative right now surrounding Floyd's death.

George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks are not the same .... not remotely.

 

not so much deserve as responsible