Atlanta: “Lawful But Awful” or Murder?

On Monday morning a guy called the radio show that I host with Mike Imprevento to ask for advice.

He was thinking about becoming a police officer. What should he do?

Mike urged him to go for it.

I told the kid to think it over. I told him I couldn’t imagine wanting to get into law enforcement right now, given the virulent anti-police mood sweeping the country. I told him to wait. See how it all shakes out.

After what happened in Atlanta yesterday, I’d tell him to find something else to do.

Without consulting with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Paul L. Howard Jr., Atlanta’s district attorney, charged former police officer Garrett Rolfe not just with murder, but capital murder.

Now the white cop who shot a black suspect to death Friday night after the guy had overpowered two officers, stolen a taser and fired at them will be on trial for his life.

Incomprehensible.

Look, the shooting of Rayshard Brooks is disturbing. The guy was drunk and passed out in his car in the Wendy’s drive-thru. In Virginia being behind the wheel and intoxicated is a DUI. 

Still, Brooks was cooperative at first. He seemed amiable. He blew .108 on a breathalyzer. 

But something went wrong when two officers attempted to cuff him. He fought with both men, grabbed a taser off one cop and fled. He turned, fired the taser at Rolfe and started running again when Rolfe shot him twice in the back.

Was this what criminologists call “lawful but awful”?

Or was it a crime?

Lawyers can argue legalities. I don’t like to second-guess cops making split-second decisions, but this looks like a close one. Brooks was drunk. The cops could have pursued him on foot. If he got away, they could take him in later. After all, they had his car. They knew who he was and where he lived.

On the other hand, when you resist arrest, slug a police officer, grab his weapon and fire a taser at him, you’re asking for trouble.

Either way, the case against the officer should not be a capital one. Death penalty cases are reserved for the worst of the worst: double homicides, rape/murders, etc. Even the officer who clearly killed a helpless George Floyd in Minneapolis isn’t facing capital murder charges.

Ironcially, Howard just two weeks ago charged two Atlanta officers for using a taser during an arrest, calling it a “deadly weapon.” His own words will be used by the defense in this case.

This six-term prosecutor is desperately fighting for his political life. He faces a run-off election for the Democratic nomination in August against a strong opponent who accuses him of “incompetence and corruption.” On top of that he has three civil suits pending that accuse him of sexual harassment and he’s under investigation by the Georgia ethics commission over allegations that he violated campaign finance laws.

A cornered politician is a dangerous animal. Perhaps he believes that going after Rolfe with a vengeance will be enough to keep him in office. But prosecutions should never be political.

An Atlanta mob burned down the Wendy’s Friday night hours after Brooks was killed in its parking lot . Angry protesters with megaphones have been demanding capital murder charges. They want Rolfe dead. 

They may get their wish.

Who’d want to be a cop right now?