Atlanta Protesters Set Fire to Wendy’s Where Rayshard Brooks Was Murdered
Written by SOURCE on June 14, 2020
Protests erupted in Atlanta this weekend following the fatal shooting of Rayshard Brooks at the hands of an Atlanta police officer.
On Saturday, protesters engaged in a peaceful protest and shut down part of the Interstate 75/85 downtown connector—a major highway through the city.
As the protests went on, however, people eventually set fire to a vehicle near the Wendy’s where Brooks was killed, and then the inside of the Wendy’s was set ablaze as well.
Rayshard Brooks was involved in an altercation with Atlanta police in a Wendy’s parking lot on Friday night, where he reportedly took an officer’s stun gun and attempted to run away. The officer then shot Brooks after it appeared that he had pointed the taser at him before running away. Brooks was reportedly still alive in the parking lot when paramedics arrived, but was later pronounced dead in the hospital.
Since the shooting, Atlanta police chief Erika Shields stepped down from her position less than 24 hours following the incident. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms also called for the officer who shot Brooks to be fired immediately.
The mayor said the Shields stepped down “so that the city may move forward with urgency in rebuilding the trust so desperately needed throughout our community.”
Mayor Bottoms also said the city’s interim police chief will be Rodney Bryant as they launch a “national search” for new leadership.
