A fired Atlanta police officer who shot Rayshard Brooks last June was reinstated by the city’s Civil Service Board.
“Due to the City’s failure to comply with several provisions of the Code and the information received during witnesses’ testimony, the Board concludes the Appellant was not afforded his right to due process,” the board stated of Garrett Rolfe. “Therefore, the Board grants the Appeal of Garrett Rolfe and revokes his dismissal as an employee of the APD.”
The ruling, however, won’t get Rolfe back to work, as he is facing a felony murder charge over Brooks’s death and his bond prevents him from possessing a firearm.
“He’d essentially be on administrative leave pending the outcome of the charges against them,” Rolfe’s attorney Lance LoRusso said.
ATLANTA DETECTIVE SAYS RAYSHARD BROOKS WOULD HAVE FACED 10 CHARGES
Brooks, a black man, died on June 12 last year after police responded to reports of a man asleep in a Wendy’s drive-thru lane. Rolfe and officer Devin Brosnan responded to the call, found Brooks in his car, and administered a sobriety test, which he failed.
The officers attempted to bring Brooks into custody, but he resisted arrest and struggled with the officers to obtain a police Taser. Video showed Brooks aiming the Taser toward the officers. Rolfe then fired his gun three times, hitting and killing Brooks.
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Brooks’s death sparked riots and protests across Atlanta amid a summer already marked by unrest following the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day.
The board’s ruling comes after Rolfe filed a lawsuit against Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and then-interim police Chief Rodney Bryant, arguing that he was fired “without an investigation, without proper notice, without a pre-disciplinary hearing, and in direct violation of the municipal code of the city of Atlanta.” He asked to be reinstated with back pay and benefits.
