Atlanta police call out sick after murder charge in Rayshard Brooks case
Officers take a stand against Garrett Rolfe's charges; reaction and analysis on 'The Five.'
"The Five" co-host Jesse Watters accused Fulton Couty, Ga., District Attorney Paul Howard of spreading "fake news" about the officers being prosecuted by his office in connection with the shooting of Rayshard Brooks.
During a news conference Wednesday, Howard claimed that Officer Devin Brosnan had agreed to testify against former officer Garrett Rolfe, who fired the shots that killed Brooks on the night of June 12. That claim was later contradicted by Brosnan's attorney.
"So much fake news and smears come in from this DA," Watters said. "The cop never flipped. That was a lie. He [Howard] says that this guy, the other officer [Rolfe] kicked the suspect [Brooks] when he was on the ground."
During Wednesday's news conference, Howard showed reporters a video still of Rolfe's leg "cocked back in the kicking motion." Rolfe's attorney, Lance LoRusso, denied that his client kicked Brooks in an exclusive interview with "The Ingraham Angle" Wednesday night.
"Why didn't he just show the whole video?" Watters asked. "I wonder why they didn't show the whole video because I'm pretty sure he didn't kick the dead man. I'm pretty sure he was either stepping over him or running toward him to give him aid.
"He didn't just stand there whistling in the wind. In less than a minute he was back to the body administering CPR, trying to save the guy's life."
Watters noted that while Brooks was shot twice in the back, a suspect who assaults officers and attempts to shoot them with a Taser is not necessarily "running backwards."
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"The other thing," Watters went on, "[Howard] comes out and says [Brooks] was 'jovial'? When are jovial people punching officers in the face and shooting Tasers at their head? I don't think he knows what 'jovial' means, and under Georgia law a Taser is a lethal weapon and you're allowed to use deadly force."
Howard has been criticized for claiming a Taser is a deadly weapon in the context of a case earlier this month in which five officers were charged with aggravated assault. However, he made the opposite claim Wednesday when announcing charges against Rolfe and Brosnan.
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