This will be a very interesting case to follow.
The other officer making an official evidentiary statement is an unexpected wrinkle.
The DA seems very thorough.
So the DA threw the book at Rolfe, basically deciding that his split decision against Rayshard firing a weapon at him was just as abhorrent than the 8:46 murder of Floyd.
Based upon what I have seen so far, I can’t imagine a jury would convict. This could end very badly in Atlanta.
Yes, for sure. Every official in the nation should be taking notes.
The felony murder with sentence ranging from life in prison to death seems excessive, yes. But a jury can pick and choose which charges to convict/acquit.
A couple questions that the presser didn’t answer for me are…
If the tasers have 2 charges, could Rolfe have reasonably thought that Brooks had another charge remaining after his first missed shot?
And they explained in detail about calculating and concluding that Brooks was running away from Rolfe, but is Rolfe just supposed to let Brooks run? Are all police just supposed to let felons run away now? That is, even though the shots were fired while Brooks was running away, couldn’t Rolfe have reasonably expected to be fired upon if he were to gain ground on Brooks?
Finally, they showed the still shot of Rolfe supposedly kicking Brooks. If there is video that confirms this, Rolfe should be looking to cut a plea. He doesn’t want that showing up in a court room.
I didn’t see a kick in the video during the struggle. In the WaPo video I referenced earlier, the struggle went from 2:07 to 2:42.
Rolfe also has a history of similar complaints, and there is evidence that two other officers were kneeling on George Floyd.
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/29/us/george-floyd-new-video-officers-kneel-trnd/index.html
The “transferred intent” component, concerning the bystander in the car that was hit by a round from the officer’s gun, again, was another unanticipated wrinkle.
And I would suggest you please not try to put words in my mouth.
It wasn’t during the struggle. They said Rolfe kicked Brooks as Brooks lay there dying.
Oh. That’s an entirely different matter.
Recent articles on the Brooks / Rolfe / Brosnan case and the district attorney’s prosecution of such:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-minneapolis-police-atlanta-idUSKBN23O1IO
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/06/17/rayshard-brooks-garrett-rolfe-atlanta-officer-charged-felony-murder-assault/3196723001/
The following do not look good for Rolfe and Brosnan:
I thought the DA said the video shows that Mr. Brooks fired the taser twice. I guess you could ask whether (former) Officer Rolfe was aware that the taser had been fired twice and so was no longer a threat.
The kick was captured on cell phone video from someone in one of the cars.
Police departments may have policies or guidelines regarding whether or not to chase, and police officers at the scene may have to make decisions about whether or not to chase, based on how dangerous the suspect is, how likely it is to be able to arrest the suspect by other means, and how dangerous a chase would be for the officers and bystanders.
Also, a police department policy against shooting a suspect who is running away does not necessarily mean that the officers cannot chase, or call in backup to block the suspect from escaping.
I’m honestly surprised at how many here think it’s ok for a cop to shoot and kill a guy in the back as he’s running away, with a line of cars in the line of fire. For a non-violent arrest. They had his car. They knew his name.
It’s nonsensical and ridiculous to think a white a man would have been sent home or picked up in these circumstances. The police arrest white men for DUIs 365 days a year.
Rayshard was violent. He physically attacked the police officers and it looks like threw one of them onto their back. Then, he fired a taser at one of them.
You left out the wealthy part. 
Assuming for the sake of argument, Arthur Blank, gets special treatment, so what? Is the argument because billionaires get special treatment, the remedy is to stop enforcing DUIs against anyone?
@jym626 How did I put words in your mouth?
Who said they thought it was okay?
To be fair, though, a simple misdemeanor arrest quickly escalated to multiple aggravated felonies committed by Mr. Brooks. It ceased being a non-violent arrest.