Atlanta police officer charged with felony murder over Brooks death
The police officer who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks at a parking lot in Atlanta last week was charged with felony murder, a Georgia county prosecutor said.
Officer Garrett Rolfe has faced 11 charges, including felony murder and assault with a deadly weapon, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announced during a news conference in Atlanta on Wednesday.
Rolfe faces the possibility of life in prison or the death penalty if convicted, Howard added.
Rayshard Brooks, 27, was shot twice in the back during an attempted arrest at a Wendy's restaurant parking lot on Friday night. Rolfe, who fired the fatal shots, has already been fired, and officer Devin Brosnan, who was also on scene, has been put on administrative duty.
Brooks did not pose an immediate threat of death to the officers and acted in a calm and "almost jovial" manner and cooperated with the police as the incident initially unfolded, Howard told reporters.
The death of Brooks came amid ongoing protests in different US cities over the killing of an African-American man, George Floyd, in Minneapolis by a white police officer. Floyd was choked to death after the officer kneeled on his neck for almost nine minutes.
The killing that was caught on camera reignited debates about the scale of US police violence and discrimination against people of color in the American society.
On Tuesday, nearly after two weeks of protests, US President Donald Trump was forced to issue an executive order that would discourage police from using chokeholds.
But he faced criticism as critics say the order fell far short of the demands of Black Lives Matter activists seeking fundamental change.
Activists and lawmakers have been wanting an outright ban on chokeholds with no exception and on no-knock warrants, among other things.
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