Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who fired the officer last June, defended her decision. She took into account that Brooks’ death came just two weeks after the murder of George Floyd by former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis on Memorial Day 2020. Video of Floyd’s death sparked an international uprising as a multicultural sea of demonstrators flooded the streets worldwide to protest police brutality.
“Given the volatile state of our city and nation last summer, the decision to terminate this officer, after he fatally shot Mr. Brooks in the back, was the right thing to do,” Bottoms said in a statement, according to CNN. “Had immediate action not been taken, I firmly believe that the public safety crisis we experienced during that time would have been significantly worse.”
The Atlanta Police Department said in their statement that this matter is far from over. “It is important to note that the CSB did not make a determination as to whether officer Rolfe violated Atlanta Police Department policies. In light of the CSB’s rulings, APD will conduct an assessment to determine if additional investigative actions are needed.”
The Brooks family is angry at both the decision to reinstate Rolfe and the city officials who hastily terminated Rolfe in order to placate the angry masses.
“We find it mind-boggling that our elected officials and the former chief weren’t aware of the proper procedure to fire an officer,” said Brooks family attorney L. Chris Stewart. “So, now it is questions of, ‘Was that done to temporarily pacify the protesters and the people around the world that were upset?’ “
