Absolute Power in Atlanta

Power Corrupts and Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely — Lord Acton

Imagine you had one too many alcoholic beverages to be driving Friday night and pulled over at a Wendy’s to sleep it off.

The cops are called but instead of calling you a taxi, they spend a half hour effectively teasing you about being intoxicated. They find nothing suspect in your possession and even though it is not illegal to sleep in your car in the State of Georgia, they decide to arrest you anyway.

You, still a little drunk and afraid, try and buck the officer off of you to keep from being handcuffed. You struggle to get free, grabbing the taser off the man actively using it on you, and take off running.

Would you expect to be murdered — shot three times in the back?

The Atlanta police departments’ narrative attempting to justify the murder of Rayshard Brooks is as infuriating as it is futile. Those officers were never in danger. They had the mans’ identification, his car: they could have let him run and picked him up at home or work, the next day or week, for resisting arrest or taser theft — any number of different scenarios.

I’ll end with a personal story having a vastly different ending.

When I was in my twenties, I had a similar situation occur in Philadelphia. I met some friends at the bar after work. I was tired, hadn’t eaten and drank too much, too fast, trying to catch up with my friends who had been drinking all evening. Shortly after pulling out of the parking lot I realized I was too intoxicated to drive and I pulled over in a McDonald’s to sleep it off.

Someone called the police and I was startled awake by them knocking on my window with their flash light. I explained my situation and was given a proverbial pat on the back for good citizenry.

So much so was the level of patience and understanding of the officers that we hung out together in the parking lot for a half hour while I sobered up with a cup of coffee. We talked about our lives while sharing a bag with three orders of large fries.

I wasn’t handcuffed or tased or shot in the back. I was given a police escort to my home, ten minutes away.

I still remember the names of those Philly cops from that night as I hope we all remember Rayshard, and as more than simply another unarmed black man shot dead in the street.

Rayshard Brooks was murdered in a Wendy’s parking lot on Friday night. He was 27 years old.

Thank you for reading this. See the parking lot camera footage of the shooting here.