And in a recent interview with ABC News, Howard denied that politics has played a role in his decision to charge officers, noting other cases in which he has gone after the police.
“Every case we’ve handled,” he said, “that’s what they’ve said, it’s political, every case.”
However, Mr. Howard has also earned goodwill among city residents who were eager to see the charges brought against the officers, who were called to a Wendy’s parking lot on June 12 at the last minute after a Employee called 911 to report that Mr. Brooks had fallen asleep. while on the drive-through.
In a largely cordial meeting that was captured on video, Mr. Brooks, 27, answered officers’ questions. But then, after failing the sobriety tests, Mr. Brooks, who was on probation and was facing a return to jail, began to fight the officers while Mr. Rolfe tried to handcuff him. Mr. Brooks hit Officer Brosnan, grabbed his Taser, and shot it while running away. Mr. Rolfe fired his own Taser and then his department-issued firearm three times, hitting Mr. Brooks twice in the back.
Mr. Rolfe, who was fired from the Atlanta Police Department, received bail on Monday of $ 500,000, although prosecutors at Mr. Howard’s office argued that he should be denied bail. Mr. Rolfe will have to wear an ankle monitor and be on a daily curfew from 6 pm to 6 am Officer Brosnan, who remains in administrative service, was released on $ 50,000 bail.
Gerald Griggs, the first vice president of the NAACP chapter in Atlanta, praised Mr. Howard’s decision to press charges. Although he said he did not always agree with Mr. Howard, he called him “a tough prosecutor seeking justice where he believes justice lies.”
The Brooks case was not the first in recent weeks in which Mr. Howard was charged with indictment of politically motivated police officers.
In the days leading up to Mr. Brooks’s death, as protesters enraged at the death of George Floyd took to the streets of Atlanta, two college students who were driving in the midst of the protests were violently harassed and dragged from their car by police officers. Atlanta police. Howard criminally charged six officers in connection with that encounter, which was filmed and posted on social media.
