Board Reinstates Atlanta Officer Who Shot And Killed Rayshard Brooks

The Atlanta police officer who is facing murder charges in the death of Rayshard Brooks has been reinstated.

The Atlanta Civil Service Board revealed its decision Wednesday morning (May 5).

The board opted to reinstate Garrett Rolfe, 28, writing:

"Due to the City’s failure to comply with several provisions of the Code and the information received during witnesses’ testimony, the Board concludes the Appellant was not afforded his right to due process. Therefore, the Board GRANTS the Appeal of Garrett Rolfe and revokes his dismissal as an employee of the APD."

However, the ruling doesn’t grant Rolfe the opportunity to return to the force. Rolfe’s bond bars him from having a gun or being around other officers, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution clarified.

“He’d essentially be on administrative leave pending the outcome of the charges against them,” Lance LoRusso, the attorney who represented Rolfe before the board, told the Journal-Constitution.

LoRusso previously said that Rolfe wasn’t given a proper chance to defend himself before he was terminated last June, quickly after Brooks was shot and killed.

Police were called to a Wendy’s restaurant after someone reported a man asleep in his car in the drive-thru lane. Following a struggle, Brooks was shot twice in the back.

Attorneys representing Brooks will hold a press conference to respond to the Atlanta Civil Service Board’s decision, the Journal-Constitution states.

Read the decision here.

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