Former Atlanta officer who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks files lawsuit against mayor, interim police chief

A former Atlanta police officer who’s charged with the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks filed a lawsuit on Tuesday, claiming his rights were violated when he lost his job.

Garrett Rolfe is currently facing 11 charges, including felony murder, for the death of Brooks, who was killed at a South Atlanta Wendys restaurant on June 12.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, Rolfe stopped Brooks for a DUI check in the restaurant’s parking lot, after Brooks fell asleep in his vehicle in the drive-thru, forcing other customers to drive around him.

Rolfe took Brooks out of his car and administered a field sobriety test, which he reportedly failed. When Rolfe tried to take him into custody, Brooks resisted. A scuffle then broke out.

A video of the incident showed Rolfe and another Atlanta officer, Devin Brosnan, struggling to detain Brooks. One of the officers deployed a Taser, which became the object of the struggle. Brooks wrestled the Taser away from the officer and ran with it across the parking lot.

The officers pursued. Brooks appeared to point the Taser at the officers. Rolfe fired three shots at Brooks. Two of the bullets hit Brooks in the back. Another bullet reportedly hit the vehicle of someone in the parking lot.

Brooks later died and Rolfe was subsequently arrested and fired from his job.

The Daily Report states that Rolfe’s attorneys, Lance LoRusso and Ken Davids, filed a lawsuit Tuesday at the Fulton County Superior Court, against Acting Chief of Police Rodney Bryant and Atlanta Mayor, Keisha Bottoms.

Court documents filed allege that Rolfe was terminated from his job “without an investigation, without proper notice, without a disciplinary hearing, and in direct violation of the municipal code of the City of Atlanta.”

“Many other City of Atlanta police officers who have been charged with crimes, including felonies, have remained employed during the investigation and pendency of their criminal charges,” the complaint said.

The complaint added that Rolfe’s “due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment and the Georgia Constitution” were violated.

“Like all City of Atlanta Police officers, Garrett Rolfe is entitled to due process, equal protection of the law, and the benefit of the city ordinances that protect every city employee,” Rolfe’s lawyers said in a press release.

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