Protests continued in Atlanta on Sunday nearly three weeks after the death of George Floyd and two days after an officer shot and killed Rayshard Brooks, a father of three, at a Wendy’s on Friday night. Protesters on Saturday night set fire to the Wendy’s where Brooks was killed.
A group of protesters marched for 8.46 miles to honor Floyd, who died in Minneapolis after an officer kneeled on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, CBS Atlanta affiliate WGCL reports. The Georgia NAACP plans to hold a “March on Georgia” at the state capitol in Atlanta on Monday, when the Assembly returns to work.
The NAACP said the march will be to “demand state legislators address our legislative demands and ensure criminal justice reform, repealing citizen’s arrest, stopping voter suppression, and ending police violence against our communities as well as stopping harmful anti-voting rights bill SB 463.”
Monday’s march will also feature a speech from Atlanta Hawks Head Coach Lloyd Pierce, WGCL reported.
Garrett Rolfe, the officer involved in Friday’s shooting, has been fired, a department spokesperson said early Sunday. The Fulton County District Attorney said Sunday that they are conducting a homicide investigation and they expect to announce later this week if charges will be filed.
Devin Brosnan, another officer at the scene, was placed on administrative duty. Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields stepped down as chief on Saturday.
Police said Brooks fell asleep in the Wendy’s drive-thru on Friday night and had failed a sobriety test. When police tried to take him into custody, Brooks resisted and stole a Taser from an officer, police claim. Brooks ran from the officers, and at one point, aimed the Taser at police before the officer fired his weapon, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said, citing surveillance video that was released to the public.
Protesters gathered Saturday night at the Wendy’s where Brooks was killed and some overtook a nearby interstate. Police said protesters threw fireworks inside, setting the fast-food restaurant ablaze. Cortez Stafford, a spokesman for Atlanta Fire Rescue, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the blaze grew because it wasn’t safe to get to the area near the restaurant when the fire began. He estimated there were about 1,000 people outside the Wendy’s.
Justin Carissimo and Audrey McNamara contributed to this report.
