June 12, 2020: After being told he was under arrest for suspected drunken driving, Rayshard Brooks struggles with two Atlanta police officers, striking one and grabbing a Taser that he pointed at another. Officer Garrett Rolfe fires three shots. Two hit Brooks. The Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office lists his cause of death as gunshot wounds of the back.
June 13, 2020: Erika Shields announces she is stepping aside as chief of the Atlanta Police Department, and Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announces Rolfe has been fired. Rodney Bryant, a 31-year APD veteran, comes out of retirement to serve as interim police chief. Protesters gather outside the Wendy’s where Brooks was killed and clash with police. Some demonstrators block traffic on the nearby Downtown Connector. The Wendy’s is torched.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
June 17, 2020: Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard brings 11 criminal charges, including felony murder, against Rolfe. The other officer involved in the case, Devin Brosnan, faces two lesser charges.
June 17-20, 2020: As many as 171 Atlanta police officers stage a “blue flu” in protest.
July 4, 2020: Secoriea Turner, 8, is riding in a car with her mother when they encounter an unauthorized barricade near the former Wendy’s where Brooks was killed. Several people, police later say, fire into the car, killing Secoriea. Bottoms said police had been asked to hold off on clearing the area of protesters, who had lingered for days at the site.
July 14, 2020: The GBI expands an investigation of DA Paul Howard to include his office’s use of subpoenas to gather information about Garrett Rolfe.
July 15, 2020: 20-year-old Julian Conley is arrested for the death of Secoriea Turner. He is charged with felony murder and aggravated assault.
Aug. 4, 2020: Rolfe sues the city, claiming a lack of due process in his firing.
Credit: Hyosub Shin
Credit: Hyosub Shin
Aug. 11, 2020: In a landslide upset, Fani Willis captures 73% of the vote to defeat Paul Howard and become Fulton County’s district attorney. She takes office on Jan. 1, 2021.
Jan. 25, 2021: DA Willis requests that Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr take over the cases against the two APD officers charged in the Brooks’ shooting, which originated under Howard’s leadership of the district attorney’s office. Carr refuses the request and the matter ends up in front of a Fulton County Superior Court judge.
May 4, 2021: Rodney Bryant is named permanent APD chief.
May 5, 2021: The Atlanta Civil Service Board reinstates Rolfe as an APD officer, saying he was not afforded due process in his firing. Rolfe remains on administrative leave and still faces the criminal charges.
May 7, 2021: Mayor Bottoms announces that she will not run for reelection.
June 4, 2021: A judge grants Willis’ request to recuse her office from prosecuting Rolfe. A spokesperson for Carr says he will respect the court’s decision.
June 7, 2021: The family of Secoriea Turner files lawsuits against the city of Atlanta, former Mayor Bottoms, police chief Rodney Bryant and City Councilwoman Joyce Sheperd. The lawsuit claims that the city was negligent in its duties to remove “armed vigilantes” at the burned-out Wendy’s.
July 21, 2021: Carr’s office appoints Pete Skandalakis as the new prosecutor in the case. Skandalakis serves as the executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia.
Aug. 4, 2021: A second suspect, 23-year-old Jerrion McKinney, is arrested for the shooting of Secoriea Turner. He is charged with murder, four counts of aggravated assault, pointing a gun at another and 12 gang-related offenses.
Sept. 1, 2021: The two suspects in the killing of Secoriea Turner – Julian Conley and Jerrion McKinney — plead not guilty.
June 20, 2022: Garrett Rolfe and Devin Brosnan file federal lawsuits against the city of Atlanta, Fulton County, former DA Howard, former Mayor Bottoms, and others. Their lawsuits allege that they were falsely arrested and that their constitutional rights were violated.
Aug. 23, 2022: Special prosecutor Pete Skandalakis announces that Garrett Rolfe and Devin Brosnan “committed no crimes” and that the use of deadly force was justified. The charges against the two are dropped.
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