Juan Williams on the death of Rayshard Brooks: 'Would the public have been less safe if he had run away?'

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Deadly police shooting in Atlanta sparks new wave of protests

Atlanta police officer fired after shooting Rayshard Brooks; reaction and analysis on 'The Five.'

"The Five" co-host Juan Williams said Monday that the shooting death of 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks, a black man, by a white Atlanta police officer should help Americans "understand why people are crying out for reform" of police and law enforcement practices across America.

"There was no problem until he refused to be arrested. Then when the scuffle happens, he grabs the Taser and runs away and sadly is shot in the back," Williams said. "Now to me again, it seems to me a situation where he said he was going to run [to] his sister's house. And I just wonder if it wasn't in the public interest to let him run to his sister's house. He could have been picked up later, I think.

"Would the public have been less safe if he had run away?" Williams asked. "I don't think there would have been a problem there. But again, you have to cede something to the judgment of the officer. I will not cede the idea that he deserved to be shot in the back."

ATLANTA POLICE OFFICER GARRETT ROLFE FIRED, ANOTHER REASSIGNED AFTER RAYSHARD BROOKS DEATH

Video footage captured from police body cameras shows the officers talking with Brooks moments before he was shot in a Wendy's parking lot.

Earler Monday, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced a series of administrative orders targeting police use of force policies. The officer who fired the shots that killed Brooks, Garrett Role, was fired Sunday, a day after Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields resigned.

"De-escalation, to my mind, was called for here," Williams added. "And I think that's why people are saying, 'Let's have some police reform on the table.' Not 'defund the police, but reform the police structure.'"

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Co-host Jesse Watters disagreed with Williams.

"I just don't think it's acceptable to allow highly intoxicated people to assault police officers, resist arrest, steal Tasers, shoot Tasers at officers and say, 'OK, I'm just going to let them run back at large to their sister's house,'" he said. "That's just not policing."

Fox News' Louis Casiano contributed to this report.