Ga. cop who killed Rayshard Brooks is charged in bar fight
ATLANTA, Ga. - An Atlanta cop who made headlines in a high-profile 2020 slaying has been charged in connection with a bar fight last month.
Around 1:30 a.m. on June 29, Atlanta police responded to X Midtown at 990 Piedmont Avenue NE.
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There, they learned an argument between 52-year-old Raefeael Penrice and Atlanta Police Officer Garrett Rolfe had turned physical.
Rolfe was off duty at the time of the incident, according to police.
Rolfe is the officer who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks in 2020, but special prosecutor Pete Skandalakis later found that Rolfe’s use of force was justified.
He was placed on administrative leave soon after the bar fight, and Penrice was charged with battery and simple battery.
On Wednesday, Atlanta police announced Rolfe was charged with simple battery.
Police said Rolfe remains on administrative leave as they continue their internal investigation, “and await the outcome of all judicial proceedings.”
They said, “all information and evidence gathered will be turned over to the Fulton County Solicitor General’s Office for further review.”
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This is not the first time Rolfe has been placed on administrative leave.
Rolfe is the officer who shot and killed Rayshard Brooks in 2020.
Rolfe was placed on leave, then fired, but an oversight panel ruled he was fired without due process, and the city was forced to rehire him.
Special prosecutor Pete Skandalakis later found that Rolfe’s use of force was justified.
Brooks’ killing was one of multiple slayings of Black men by white police officers that, along with the killing of Ahmaud Arbery by a former cop, led to protests across the country.
Brooks had fallen asleep in the drive-thru at a Wendy’s, and Rolfe was called to the scene. Brooks eventually grabbed a stun gun and fled. When he turned and fired the stun gun toward Rolfe, the officer fatally shot Brooks.
In the aftermath of the shooting, there were nights of protests in Atlanta, the Wendy’s burned down and the police chief resigned.
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