Rayshard Brooks death: Trump says 'you can't resist a police officer like that' and claims officer 'heard a shot'
President complains that police were unfairly treated during protests
Gino Spocchia
Donald Trump has described Rayshard Brooks' death as a “terrible situation” whilst appearing to lay blame the black victim, saying “you can’t resist a police officer.”
The US president’s comments came on Fox News on Wednesday night after the Atlanta cop who shot Brooks dead last week, Garrett Rolfe, was charged with felony murder among other charges.
“I thought it was a terrible situation, but you can’t resist a police officer,” Mr Trump told Sean Hannity on Fox News. “And, you know, if you have a disagreement you have to take it up after the fact.”
Prosecutors said 27-year-old Brooks, who had stolen a stun gun from officers before attempting to leave the scene outside an Atlanta Wendy’s last week, posed no threat when police shot and killed him.
The white Atlanta cop was also said to have kicked Brooks, who was then wounded on the ground, and denied medical treatment for some time.
Still, the president said on Wednesday that whilst Brooks’s death was “very sad,” US police departments had “have not been treated fairly in our country, but again, you can’t resist a police officer”
The president added that he had seen a report from Rolfe’s lawyer which argued the policeman had “heard a sound like ... a gunshot” before shooting Brooks.
“So that’s an interesting, you know, I don’t know” if “I necessarily believe that...but that’s a very interesting thing”, said Mr Trump.
“I hope he gets a fair shake because police have not been treated fairly in our country,” said the president. “They ended up in a very terrible disagreement and look at the way it ended. Very bad. Very bad.”
Atlanta’s police chief walked-out this weekend over Brooks’s death, as demonstrations against systemic racism and police violence continue amid calls for both police abolishment and reform.
The president on Tuesday signed an executive order banning chokeholds in certain situations, some four weeks on from George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody on 25 May.
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