Law enforcement officers weigh in on use of deadly force after Rayshard Brooks shooting
Law enforcement officers join 'Fox & Friends' to discuss the case and riots unfolding in Atlanta, Georgia and nationwide.
After looking at the video of the attempted arrest of Rayshard Brooks in Georgia, Colorado Police Sgt. Rob Pride told “Fox & Friends” on Monday the use of force appears to have been justified.
“I don't see how this would not meet a deadly force encounter by most agency standards," said Pride, who serves in the Loveland, Colo., Police Department.
Pride, who is also the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) National Trustees chair, weighed in on the police-involved shooting death of Brooks outside a Wendy’s fast-food restaurant in Atlanta, which led to protests and destruction over the weekend. The incident was captured on video.
Pride said he watched the video “several times” and has spoken with officers from around the country, including experts on "use of force" by officers.
“With the current training that we have, and I can say for across the country, most agencies, this would be a deadly force encounter because of the incapacitating capabilities of the Taser," he said.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI), which is investigating the shooting of Brooks, said the deadly confrontation started on Friday with officers responding to a complaint that a man was sleeping in a car blocking the restaurant's drive-thru lane. The GBI said Brooks failed a field sobriety test and then resisted officers' attempts to arrest him.
ATLANTA POLICE CHIEF RESIGNS AMID BACKLASH OVER FATAL SHOOTING OF BLACK MAN
The GBI released security camera video of the shooting Saturday. The footage shows a man running from two white police officers as he raises a hand, which is holding some type of object, toward an officer a few steps behind him. The officer draws his gun and fires as the man keeps running, then falls to the ground in the parking lot.
GBI Director Vic Reynolds said Brooks had grabbed a stun gun from one of the officers and appeared to point it at the officer as he fled, prompting the officer to reach for his gun and fire an estimated three shots.
“We can look through history and see how many officers in policing history have been killed when they were disarmed of their own firearm and when a Taser is used against officers, it has that capability,” Pride noted.
“It has that capability of incapacitating an officer and having them disarmed and killed with their firearm and so I don't know of many agencies that this wouldn't be a deadly force encounter and it will be interesting to see what comes out of the investigation in regards to whether policies were met or not.”
In addition, the Atlanta Police Department has released officer bodycam and dashcam video of the events leading up to the fatal shooting of Rayshard Brooks. The Atlanta Police Department confirmed it has taken action against two police officers in connection with Brooks' death. Officer Garrett Rolfe, a veteran of more than six years with the force, was fired, and Officer Devin Brosnan, with the department since 2018, was placed on administrative duty, WSB-TV of Atlanta reported.
Host Ainsley Earhardt asked Pride why the officer was fired if Pride feels that the incident met “a deadly force encounter by most agency standards.”
“I think that's a great question for the police chief and the mayor,” he said, acknowledging that he “certainly was not a part of those conversations.”
“But it would appear that perhaps a due process was not followed for those officers, and I think there might have been a quick reaction here,” he continued.
Pride acknowledged that the situation is “a tragedy" and pointed out “one of the things that really stuck out” to him about the incident.
“The officers did not start firing when Mr. Brooks initially just started running away,” Pride said. “He ran for a short distance. You can't hear what orders they were giving him, but they did not shoot when he started to run.”
He noted that “the shooting occurred” when Brooks “turned around with, who knows what they [the officers] thought it was, but we all know now that it was a Taser, and deployed it, and that's when they delivered the deadly force.”
Pride said it was “a lose-lose situation really for these guys.”
“If they let this gentleman go and he gets in his car and he kills somebody, then they’re on the hook for that and if they make an arrest and there is resisting and then this tragedy occurs,” he added.
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“Had there been no arrest, he had not tried to escape, this would never happen and we wouldn't have this tragedy," Pride explained. "And when folks resist arrest like this and try to escape, the outcomes are unpredictable."
Fox News’ Dom Calicchio contributed to this report.
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