As days of continued unrest come and go throughout the nation and the world stemming from the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota, Atlanta experienced a killing of yet another Black man at the hand of a white police officer. Angry crowds gathered in the parking lot at Wendy’s fast food store on University Avenue in Southwest Atlanta on Saturday, June 13, 2020 to protest the police killing of Rayshard Brooks and to demand justice for what they called, “another senseless killing.” In this area historically known as the Joyland part of Atlanta, the Wendy’s was set aflame along with nearby vehicles.
Brooks was killed on Friday night, June 12, 2020 after the police received a call saying that he was asleep in his car in the drive-thru lane at the restaurant, causing other customers to drive around him. Atlanta Police officer Garrette Rolfe shot Brooks after an altercation took place while the officers were attempting to handcuff him. Brooks allegedly took a taser from the arresting officers during the scuffle and ran away from them. When he allegedly attempted to shoot the taser at the police, he was shot and later died.
The protesters surrounded the Wendy’s where Brooks was shot and proceeded to Interstate 75-85 to bring traffic to a halt.
This unrest, after Atlanta’s police chief Erika Shields stepped down and the Atlanta Mayor called for the officer who shot Brooks to be fired.