Cop Fired After Killing Rayshard Brooks Is Reinstated to Atlanta Police Department
NEXT UP, COURT
The police officer who was fired after he fatally shot Rayshard Brooks last June has been reinstated to the Atlanta Police Department, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Behind the decision was the city’s Civil Service Board, which concluded that Garrett Rolfe “was not afforded his right to due process,” when he was terminated. “The Board grants the Appeal of Garrett Rolfe and revokes his dismissal as an employee of the APD,” the panel announced. The move does not mean Rolfe would be allowed to return to the force right away. Because he has been charged with murder in the shooting of Brooks, his bond will not allow him to possess a gun or be near other officers, according to Rolfe’s lawyer, Lance LoRusso. “He’d essentially be on administrative leave pending the outcome of the charges against them,” the lawyer said. Rolfe was fired one day after he shot Brooks in a Wendy’s parking lot. However, the panel found his removal did not follow the rules of the city code and he was not afforded his due process rights in the chaos after the shooting, which led to the Atlanta police chief’s resignation on the same day, according to WRDW.