If anyone is actually interested in getting to the facts and hearing both sides of the issue before rendering judgment - not that we do that in this country any more - here's the statement released by his attorney:
On June 12, 2020, a Wendy’s employee called 911 to report a man was passed out behind the wheel of his vehicle and blocking traffic in the drive-through. Officer Brosnan responded, and made contact with the driver, Rayshard Brooks. After determining alcohol may have been a contributing factor, he requested Officer Rolfe’s assistance. Officer Rolfe, a member of the High Intensity Traffic Team and the Governor funded HEAT Unit, has specialized training in DUI investigations. He has made at least 300 DUI arrests, and completed the 160-hour Drug Recognition Expert course, graduating as valedictorian. After a thorough investigation, Officer Rolfe determined Mr. Brooks was impaired and driving a vehicle in violation of Georgia law. Officer Rolfe was polite and courteous to Mr. Brooks during the entire encounter. Mr. Brooks was polite and cooperative until Officer Rolfe placed him under arrest.
Suddenly, without warning or provocation, Mr. Brooks chose to violently attack two uniformed police officers. Officers Brosnan and Rolfe used the least amount of force possible in their attempts to place Mr. Brooks into handcuffs. They attempted to leverage him to the ground while giving him loud, clear verbal commands. In response, Mr. Brooks continued actively resisting lawful efforts to arrest him. He then escalated his resistance by punching Officer Rolfe in the face committing several counts of felony obstruction of an officer. See O.C.G.A. §16-10-24.
In an effort to place Mr. Brooks under arrest and stop his assault, Officer Rolfe lawfully deployed his TASER twice, but it had no effect on Mr. Brooks. Mr. Brooks continued his assault and disarmed Officer Brosnan, stealing his city-issued TASER committing a robbery, another forcible felony under Georgia law. See O.C.G.A. §16-8-40 & O.C.G.A. §16-10-33 .
Mr. Brooks, then armed, began running through a crowded parking lot. Mr. Brooks was lawfully under arrest and Officer Rolfe pursued him. Instead of merely trying to escape, Mr. Brooks reached back with his arm extended and pointed an object at Officer Rolfe,” the statement reads. “Officer Rolfe heard a sound like a gunshot and saw a flash in front of him. Fearing for his safety, and the safety of the civilians around him, Officer Rolfe dropped his taser and fired his service weapon at the only portion of Mr. Brooks that presented to him – Mr. Brooks’ back. Officer Rolfe immediately stopped firing when Mr. Brooks fell to the ground since there was no longer an imminent threat towards Officer Rolfe or others."
the reality is though the cops did a TERRIBLE job in trying to affect that arrest.
One unarmed suspect two cops, that's an easy arrest. You deploy as follows
X = suspect
Y = cop 1 maintain a distance of 18" behind X
Z = cop 2 at a 45 degree angle behind X at a distance of 6'
Z draws his taser and orders X to his knees . if he fails to comply , Z offers him one more warning. If X still does not comply Y attempts to force him to comply. If X still does not comply Y backs off and Z hits him with the taser.
at this point with X more than likely on the ground from the taser Y and Z change places and Y draws HIS taser.
This time there is no request, Z moves in to affect the arrest and if X resists Z backs off and Y hits him with the taser.
At this point Z should be able to roll X onto his stomach to affect the arrest and Y MUST pull out his firearm at this point because this is the dangerous point, you have a suspect who's already taken two taser rounds rather than comply with an arrest, it's reasonable to assume he is going to scrap with Y and try to get his gun if he can at all.
If Y has X on his back and still can't get him cuffed then a few hard shots to the kidneys should rectify that situation. If X resists and manages to get the better of Y at this point and puts even one finger on Y's holster, Z aims center mass. This isn't the ******* movies, if you pull the trigger , you aim to KILL. Joe Biden is an idiot to say otherwise.
This should have been a routine textbook arrest, but frankly these two officers were not capable of handling one suspect, nor did they show sound tactical practices.