Rayshard Brooks: A justified use of deadly force, explained

[Cecilie1200]

Anyone?

Anyone??

Hello, is this thing on? Did my internet go out?

He was shot in the back. Running away.

He was shot in the back running away . . . and firing a weapon at the cop behind him.

That last part is sorta important.

 

[TemplarKormac]

Rayshard Brooks: A justified use of deadly force, explained

What Brooks did by punching an officer in the face was an aggravated misdemeanor, punishable by a $5,000 fine and up to 1 year in jail (see Ga. Code Ann. § 17-10-4.).

GA CODE § 16-5-23 (e)

(e) Any person who commits the offense of simple battery against a police officer, correction officer, or detention officer engaged in carrying out official duties shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished for a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature.

Brooks, by resisting arrest, punching the officer in the face and later firing a taser at the police officer was guilty of a felony under Georgia Law, punishable by a maximum of five years in jail:

GA CODE § 16-10-24 (b)

Whoever knowingly and willfully resists, obstructs, or opposes any law enforcement officer, prison guard, correctional officer, probation supervisor, parole supervisor, or conservation ranger in the lawful discharge of his official duties by offering or doing violence to the person of such officer or legally authorized person is guilty of a felony and shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five years.


GA CODE § 16-11-123

As soon as Brooks gained possession of the taser, he was facing five years in jail for illegally possessing a firearm. As the law states:

"A person commits the offense of unlawful possession of firearms or weapons when he or she knowingly has in his or her possession any sawed-off shotgun, sawed-off rifle, machine gun, dangerous weapon, or silencer, and, upon conviction thereof, he or she shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of five years."

GA CODE § 16-11-106 (a)

Tasers are considered firearms under Georgia Law:

(a) For the purposes of this Code section, the term "firearm" shall include stun guns and tasers. A stun gun or taser is any device that is powered by electrical charging units such as batteries and emits an electrical charge in excess of 20,000 volts or is otherwise capable of incapacitating a person by an electrical charge.

GA CODE § 16-5-21 (c)(1)(A)

What Brooks did with the taser he stole would have warranted 10 to 20 years in jail under Georgia law had he survived the encounter. As stated above (in § 16-11-106), tasers are classified as firearms:

(c)

(1) A person who knowingly commits the offense of aggravated assault upon a public safety officer while he or she is engaged in, or on account of the performance of, his or her official duties shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished as follows:

(A) When such assault occurs by the discharge of a firearm by a person who is at least 17 years of age, such person shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than ten nor more than 20 years.

GA CODE § 16-3-21 (a)

First conclusion: Officer Rolfe was justified in using deadly force to prevent the commission of a "forcible felony" (as defined in GA CODE § 16-11-131), given that the one or more of the above offenses committed by Brooks would have resulted in imprisonment of more than one year in jail:

(a) A person is justified in threatening or using force against another when and to the extent that he or she reasonably believes that such threat or force is necessary to defend himself or herself or a third person against such other's imminent use of unlawful force; however, except as provided in Code Section 16-3-23-, a person is justified in using force which is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm only if he or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent death or great bodily injury to himself or herself or a third person or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.

GA CODE § 17-4-20 (b)

Second conclusion: Rolfe was permitted to use deadly force to apprehend the felon or misdemeanant:

(b) Sheriffs and peace officers who are appointed or employed in conformity with Chapter 8 of Title 35 may use deadly force to apprehend a suspected felon only when the officer reasonably believes that the suspect possesses a deadly weapon or any object, device, or instrument which, when used offensively against a person, is likely to or actually does result in serious bodily injury; when the officer reasonably believes that the suspect poses an immediate threat of physical violence to the officer or others; or when there is probable cause to believe that the suspect has committed a crime involving the infliction or threatened infliction of serious physical harm. Nothing in this Code section shall be construed so as to restrict such sheriffs or peace officers from the use of such reasonable nondeadly force as may be necessary to apprehend and arrest a suspected felon or misdemeanant.


I won't dive into the federal offenses he committed before he died. I am making the case that the police followed Georgia law to the letter. A grand jury will likely not convict Rolfe and Bronson based on these facts.

I challenge you, the reader, to prove me otherwise.

All of this bullshit, to cover up the fact that the police murdered a man who passed out in his car. He was endangered NO ONE. The cop fired 4 times in a crowded parking lot, hitting another occupied car. All of the actions of the officer violated police procedure and endangered the public.

The police officers were at no time in danger of being harmed. Mr. Brooks was compliant and reasonable. They murdered him, and kicked him as he lay dying. Stood on his body as he fought for his life.

I hope he spends the rest of his life in prison.

I hope 'Mr.' Brooks dies a pathetic death. Oh wait. My wish has been granted.

The cop who did the shooting is refusing to turn himself in. An accused felon is resisting arrest. He is armed, and given the charges, clearly dangerous. According the OP, we can send out the SWAT Team and gun him down in front of his neighbours. Once you resist arrest, your ass is grass!!!

Lol. You are in "throw anything against the wall and see what sticks" mode.

I will stand back and watch this meltdown continue unabated.

Rolfe has 6 hours as of this post to turn himself in.

Yeah? I thought it was tomorrow for the deadline.

It was 6pm today. A little part of me was hoping they would refuse and go all Cliven Bundy on their sorry asses.

Better not create the perception that you are above the law, though. They both did the smart thing, both in the enaction of their duties that night, and by turning themselves in.

 

[Cecilie1200]

Anyone?

Anyone??

Hello, is this thing on? Did my internet go out?

He was shot in the back. Running away.

That does not make a point.

All it does is stir emotion. It does not present any facts, Coyote.

It states a fact.

Some more facts that were not acknowledged: A taser is not lethal. They had his wallet and driver’s license, and car.

The officer kicked him as he lay dying.

They delayed medical help.

For most of the encounter (41 something minutes) Rayshard was calm, reasonable, offered to walk home (per recorded footage).

Your question is really contingent on another: could this have been handled differently in a way that kept everyone safe, and prevented any deaths?

Your so-called facts rebutted:

A Taser doesn't have to be lethal; it just has to incapacitate the officer, who has lethal weapons on him, and would be helpless to defend against a lethal unarmed attack at that point.

What the fuck difference does it make if they had his wallet, ID, car, or his fucking deed to his house?

Can you tell me the exact moment in any of the videos from which you got this "the officer kicked him" schtick? There were something like 14 or 15 videos made of this incident, y'know. Should be easy to prove.

Who cares if he was "calm and reasonable" for 41 minutes, or 41 hours, prior to attacking the cops? People are generally peaceful right up until the moment they become violent. What the actual fuck?

 

[Rambunctious]

I won't dive into the federal offenses he committed before he died. I am making the case that the police followed Georgia law to the letter. A grand jury will likely not convict Rolfe and Bronson based on these facts.

I challenge you, the reader, to prove me otherwise.

Twinkie, the cop shot this guy in the back.

I repeat. He shot the guy in the back. Twice. Over a parking violation.

If you reached over your shoulder running or not and pointed a weapon at me I would shoot you....multiple times right in the back until you went down.....

 

[Rambunctious]

All this cop has to say....and by the way I'm not going to mention the poor guys name here because the dude is being screwed.....but all he has to say is I thought he had a gun and I saw a flash....case over....Atlanta DA...egg on face.....and Atlanta burns to the ground....

 

[Bootney Lee Farnsworth]

All this cop has to say....and by the way I'm not going to mention the poor guys name here because the dude is being screwed.....but all he has to say is I thought he had a gun and I saw a flash....case over....Atlanta DA...egg on face.....and Atlanta burns to the ground....

And we all laugh at their cop-hating asses while they burn their own shit.

.

 

[airplanemechanic]

that if he had been allowed to flee, he would have done so with a deadly weapon and presented a danger to the surrounding community.

Except a taser is considered a dangerous weapon but not deadly; you are obviously blinded by your racist impulses.

Mkay the Georgia DA ruled it a deadly weapon when he charged two cops who used them on some college kids a couple of weeks ago. You people need to make up your mind.

 

[CHAZBUKOWSKI]

However, I do feel a $5000 fine and a year in jail is way excessive just for punching someone in the face.

He punched an officer in the face, which escalated it to an aggravated misdemeanor, and ergo, felony resisting arrest.

not a capital crime

Nice attempt at reframing, but this is not "capital punishment", when the state decides with cold logic and deliberation to execute someone. This is self-defense, when you make an armed individual feel that you are a danger to him.

When is someone e is running away how is it self defense?

Eh?

How can you say it is self defense when the person is running away from you?

I thought we covered that ad nauseum:

1. An arrestee is struggling with you on the ground. Adrenaline is flowing high. He starts reaching for the weapons on your belt pack. You are now in a life and death situation.
2. The guy gets loose with your taser, a serious weapon that can disable you allowing him to take your service revolver as well and turn it against you. He is desperate.
3. He turns and points it at you, tries to use it. Your life is now on the line and your police training kicks in to shoot back in self defense.

This all happens in a split second. Between the time you respond and fire, he's missed and has turned to flee, but the directive to initiate deadly force has already been set into motion. Your brain has sent the signal that your life is being threatened. You are on pure instinct now. In an ideal world with us all sitting around in our sofas analyzing this, it is easy to say that in the last instant, the cop could have stopped and initiated pursuit instead, but the guy has already shown a willingness to try to kill a cop to get away, and for all you know, has another weapon on him and in another few steps could try to use that too.

Maybe in a few seconds, he will commandeer another car nearby, put someone else's life at risk, maybe a mother with two young children, and use it to try to get away.

BOTTOM LINE: If you don't want to get shot by police:

• DON'T RESIST ARREST.
• DON'T STRUGGLE WITH THE POLICE FIGHTING THEM ON THE GROUND.
• DON'T TAKE THEIR WEAPON, GET UP, POINT IT AT THEM AND TRY TO USE IT.

Every cop in Atlanta ought to call off and refuse to work again until this man is cleared, set free and allowed to return to work. As I said before, I might have just let him park and walk home, but the criminal is out to get you and if your own employer doesn't even have your back either and is willing to throw you under the bus too out of politics, then WHAT IS THE POINT?

Had this happened a year ago, there would be NO QUESTION this officer acted justly.

If they are too fucking stupid to recognize the problem let alone do nothing about it, I say good riddence.

I agree. If scumbag shitheads like Brooks are too stupid to realize the problem with their actions, good riddance. Enjoy the bullet holes you loser.

 

[candycorn]

I won't dive into the federal offenses he committed before he died. I am making the case that the police followed Georgia law to the letter. A grand jury will likely not convict Rolfe and Bronson based on these facts.

I challenge you, the reader, to prove me otherwise.

Twinkie, the cop shot this guy in the back.

I repeat. He shot the guy in the back. Twice. Over a parking violation.

No. It started as a parking violation. Then it became a DWI. Then resisting arrest. Then assault.

 

[JoeB131]

And according to every legal article I read, what the DA did was a catastrophic mistake. He grossly overcharged the officers, almost guaranteeing that they are exonerated by a grand jury.

Here's the thing. Grand jurors don't like having their houses burned down in riots...

As per your second contention, Brooks established himself as a "deadly threat" the moment he fired the taser. His willingness to use a weapon against police demonstrated that. It demonstrates that Brooks would have used any means at his disposal to prevent the police from subduing him.

Uh, he didn't know how to use it and he wasn't facing the officers when he was shot.

Again- He shot him in the back. Twice.

 

[MarcATL]

Your hatred of police is duly noted.

What hatred? She seems to be of the "law & order" ilk to me.

 

[JoeB131]

If you reached over your shoulder running or not and pointed a weapon at me I would shoot you....multiple times right in the back until you went down.....

And you'd be convicted of murder for doing it...

 

[Coyote]

Other countries seem able to conduct competent policing, rarely resorting to lethal force against unarmed people.

Maybe we are doing something wrong.


Isn't that worth considering?

 

[Coyote]

Rayshard Brooks: A justified use of deadly force, explained

What Brooks did by punching an officer in the face was an aggravated misdemeanor, punishable by a $5,000 fine and up to 1 year in jail (see Ga. Code Ann. § 17-10-4.).

GA CODE § 16-5-23 (e)

(e) Any person who commits the offense of simple battery against a police officer, correction officer, or detention officer engaged in carrying out official duties shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished for a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature.

Brooks, by resisting arrest, punching the officer in the face and later firing a taser at the police officer was guilty of a felony under Georgia Law, punishable by a maximum of five years in jail:

GA CODE § 16-10-24 (b)

Whoever knowingly and willfully resists, obstructs, or opposes any law enforcement officer, prison guard, correctional officer, probation supervisor, parole supervisor, or conservation ranger in the lawful discharge of his official duties by offering or doing violence to the person of such officer or legally authorized person is guilty of a felony and shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five years.


GA CODE § 16-11-123

As soon as Brooks gained possession of the taser, he was facing five years in jail for illegally possessing a firearm. As the law states:

"A person commits the offense of unlawful possession of firearms or weapons when he or she knowingly has in his or her possession any sawed-off shotgun, sawed-off rifle, machine gun, dangerous weapon, or silencer, and, upon conviction thereof, he or she shall be punished by imprisonment for a period of five years."

GA CODE § 16-11-106 (a)

Tasers are considered firearms under Georgia Law:

(a) For the purposes of this Code section, the term "firearm" shall include stun guns and tasers. A stun gun or taser is any device that is powered by electrical charging units such as batteries and emits an electrical charge in excess of 20,000 volts or is otherwise capable of incapacitating a person by an electrical charge.

GA CODE § 16-5-21 (c)(1)(A)

What Brooks did with the taser he stole would have warranted 10 to 20 years in jail under Georgia law had he survived the encounter. As stated above (in § 16-11-106), tasers are classified as firearms:

(c)

(1) A person who knowingly commits the offense of aggravated assault upon a public safety officer while he or she is engaged in, or on account of the performance of, his or her official duties shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished as follows:

(A) When such assault occurs by the discharge of a firearm by a person who is at least 17 years of age, such person shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than ten nor more than 20 years.

GA CODE § 16-3-21 (a)

First conclusion: Officer Rolfe was justified in using deadly force to prevent the commission of a "forcible felony" (as defined in GA CODE § 16-11-131), given that the one or more of the above offenses committed by Brooks would have resulted in imprisonment of more than one year in jail:

(a) A person is justified in threatening or using force against another when and to the extent that he or she reasonably believes that such threat or force is necessary to defend himself or herself or a third person against such other's imminent use of unlawful force; however, except as provided in Code Section 16-3-23-, a person is justified in using force which is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm only if he or she reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent death or great bodily injury to himself or herself or a third person or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.

GA CODE § 17-4-20 (b)

Second conclusion: Rolfe was permitted to use deadly force to apprehend the felon or misdemeanant:

(b) Sheriffs and peace officers who are appointed or employed in conformity with Chapter 8 of Title 35 may use deadly force to apprehend a suspected felon only when the officer reasonably believes that the suspect possesses a deadly weapon or any object, device, or instrument which, when used offensively against a person, is likely to or actually does result in serious bodily injury; when the officer reasonably believes that the suspect poses an immediate threat of physical violence to the officer or others; or when there is probable cause to believe that the suspect has committed a crime involving the infliction or threatened infliction of serious physical harm. Nothing in this Code section shall be construed so as to restrict such sheriffs or peace officers from the use of such reasonable nondeadly force as may be necessary to apprehend and arrest a suspected felon or misdemeanant.


I won't dive into the federal offenses he committed before he died. I am making the case that the police followed Georgia law to the letter. A grand jury will likely not convict Rolfe and Bronson based on these facts.

I challenge you, the reader, to prove me otherwise.

All of this bullshit, to cover up the fact that the police murdered a man who passed out in his car. He was endangered NO ONE. The cop fired 4 times in a crowded parking lot, hitting another occupied car. All of the actions of the officer violated police procedure and endangered the public.

The police officers were at no time in danger of being harmed. Mr. Brooks was compliant and reasonable. They murdered him, and kicked him as he lay dying. Stood on his body as he fought for his life.

I hope he spends the rest of his life in prison.

I hope 'Mr.' Brooks dies a pathetic death. Oh wait. My wish has been granted.

The cop who did the shooting is refusing to turn himself in. An accused felon is resisting arrest. He is armed, and given the charges, clearly dangerous. According the OP, we can send out the SWAT Team and gun him down in front of his neighbours. Once you resist arrest, your ass is grass!!!

Lol. You are in "throw anything against the wall and see what sticks" mode.

I will stand back and watch this meltdown continue unabated.

Rolfe has 6 hours as of this post to turn himself in.

Yeah? I thought it was tomorrow for the deadline.

It was 6pm today. A little part of me was hoping they would refuse and go all Cliven Bundy on their sorry asses.

Better not create the perception that you are above the law, though. They both did the smart thing, both in the enaction of their duties that night, and by turning themselves in.

Cliven Bundy was another lawbreaker.

 

[Coyote]

I hope he spends the rest of his life in prison.

Your hatred of police is duly noted.

How does that translate into hatred of police?

 

[Coyote]

Fired officer who shot Rayshard Brooks dead begged him to stay alive

DailyMail.com can reveal Officer Garrett Rolfe begged Rayshard Brooks to stay alive after shots were fired, as seen on the officer's body camera that was picked up by another officer.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Thank you posting that.

 

[2aguy]

Rayshard Brooks: A justified use of deadly force, explained

And then you have the Leftist media spin that the guy was killed just for being drunk.

Editorial: Atlanta police killed a Black man for being drunk at Wendy’s

Surely we can find a way to end horrific killings like that of Rayshard Brooks and still have police who responsibly protect the public.

www.latimes.com

Is it ignorance, stupidity, or politics?

However, I do feel a $5000 fine and a year in jail is way excessive just for punching someone in the face. This Brooks guy was an idiot who apparently took a stupid enough situation of falling asleep while ordering a hamburger and spun it for no known good reason into eventually forcing an officer to shoot him dead, the destruction of a entire business and the loss of all jobs involved.

Worse, now every time a cop is forced to arrest someone or defend himself, he has to wonder if it will be the end of his career if not his freedom or life!

He had a reason....going back to prison on parole violations for drunk driving....

 

[2aguy]

I think the DA clearly threw the Book at the officers.... listed every violation, no matter how small....

It ain't a term for nothing.


The drunk Mr Brooks being shot in the back while running away, was absolutely, uncalled for, they were not faced with a deadly threat....

Moron, the same DA who held the press conference stated two weeks ago that yes, the taser is a deadly weapon.....you moron.......

 

[Coyote]

Anyone?

Anyone??

Hello, is this thing on? Did my internet go out?

He was shot in the back. Running away.

He was shot in the back running away . . . and firing a weapon at the cop behind him.

That last part is sorta important.

Rarely lethal, with a limited range. They could have opted not to shoot him but follow at a distance or pick him up later with reinforcements. He was drunk.

 

[2aguy]

Anyone?

Anyone??

Hello, is this thing on? Did my internet go out?

He was shot in the back. Running away.

He was shot in the back running away . . . and firing a weapon at the cop behind him.

That last part is sorta important.

Rarely lethal, with a limited range. They could have opted not to shoot him but follow at a distance or pick him up later with reinforcements. He was drunk.

Wrong....the DA who held the press conference stated two weeks ago that the taser is a deadly weapon........ he changed his tune to charge these officers.