Police union president says we need to listen to both sides of the story in Rayshard Brooks' death
Georgia State Fraternity of Police lodge president Steven Gaynor speaks out, urges people to avoid rushing to judgements.
A Georgia police union official told “Outnumbered Overtime” Monday that people need to "stop looking at just one side of the story” of the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks by Atlanta police.
“We need to take all the factors into account,” said Steve Gaynor, secretary of the Georgia State Lodge Fraternal Order of police. “A lot of this occurred because of Mr. Brooks’ action."
On Sunday, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard indicated to CNN that Brooks' death could lead to criminal charges for the officers involved.
“I thought that it was cordial. He [Brooks] was very cooperative,” Howard said of the initial encounter. “He answered the questions that the officers asked. He did not seem to present any kind of threat to anyone and so the fact that it would escalate to his death just seems unreasonable.”
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) said officers responded Friday night to a complaint that a man was sleeping in a car blocking the a Wendy’s drive-thru lane. The GBI said Brooks failed a field sobriety test and then resisted officers' attempts to arrest him.
The GBI released security camera video of the shooting Saturday. The footage shows a man running from two white police officers as he raises a hand holding an object, toward an officer a few steps behind him. The officer draws his gun and fires as the man keeps running, then falls to the ground in the parking lot.
ATLANTA POLICE COULD HAVE LET RAYSHARD BROOKS WALK HOME BEFORE DEADLY SHOOTING, FAMILY LAWYER SAYS
GBI Director Vic Reynolds said Brooks had grabbed a stun gun from one of the officers and appeared to point it at the officer as he fled, prompting the officer to reach for his gun and fire an estimated three shots.
“I understand the district attorney looking at the beginning," Gaynor said. "It was a very cordial meeting for about 43 minutes."
“There was a lot of cooperation between both sides and then when the handcuffs were about to go on and he [Brooks] was told he was under arrest, the fight was on.”
“Mr. Brooks started the fight, Mr. Brooks is the one that took the Taser, Mr. Brooks is the one that fired over his shoulder at the officer directly behind him," Gaynor added. "Mr. Brooks caused a lot of the situation to occur and I think we need to look at the entire picture and let it play out."
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Gaynor went on to say that “hundreds of DUI’s are made every day” and had Brooks “simply cooperated, he would have gone to jail, been booked, and been bonded out just like every other DUI in this country.”
“He’d be home with his family,” Gaynor said. “Mr. Brooks chose to go another route.”
Fox News’ Sam Dorman and Dom Calicchio contributed to this report.
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