This archive report was first published on 14 June 2020.
Protests against racism and police brutality have intensified in the US city of Atlanta following the fatal shooting of a 27-year-old black man by a white police officer.
On Saturday, June 13, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced the resignation of Chief Erika Shields, who had been at the helm of the Atlanta Police Department for over two decades.
The officer who shot Rayshard Brooks, Garrett Rolfe, was dismissed from the force, while the second officer involved was placed on administrative duty.
Brooks was asleep in his car at a Wendy's drive-through when employees called police to complain he was blocking other customers. He failed a sobriety test and resisted arrest, leading to a physical struggle with officers.
During the struggle, Brooks obtained a Taser and fled the scene, prompting the officer to fire his weapon, striking Brooks. The 27-year-old was taken to a hospital but died after surgery.
The incident has injected fresh anger into the protests, which have been ongoing since the killing of George Floyd, an African-American man, by a white Minneapolis police officer on May 25.
Floyd's death sparked mass civil unrest across the US and globally, forcing a conversation on systemic racism, colonialism, and police brutality.
