The widow of a man who died in police custody is taking action against the officers behind her late husband’s death. According to TMZ, Tomika Miller filed a lawsuit against Officers Garrett Rolfe and Devin Brosnan following the 2020 shooting of Rayshard Brooks. The City of Atlanta and the Atlanta Police Department are also named in the suit.
As REVOLT previously reported, Rolfe and Brosnan pulled up to a Wendy’s drive-thru after learning that Brooks had fallen asleep in his car. After failing a sobriety test, the police reportedly denied the late man’s suggestion to walk home and attempted to take him into custody, prompting a struggle that ended in him getting shot and later dying at a nearby hospital.
According to Miller’s lawsuit, Brook’s death was “senseless and unjustified” as he allegedly remained “calm, polite, cordial and cooperative” until Rolfe tried to arrest him. As for Brosnan, she says that he threatened to use a Taser against her husband without completing the department’s mandatory Taser certification course. The threat, she added, is what caused the struggle as Brooks attempted to take control of Brosnan’s stun gun.
As the late man fought for the weapon, Miller says that Rolfe pulled out his own stun gun and tased him, causing him to run away. While chasing Brooks, Rolfe shot him three times, and he eventually fell to the ground, receiving no medical assistance from either one of the officers.
Instead, Miller claimed, the cops kicked her late husband as if there were actual malice. She alleges that Rolfe and Brosnan — who she claims were inadequately trained and supervised — were intending to hurt Brooks through the use of deadly and excessive force. They, however, made things worse when they failed to render aid moments after he was shot.
Per TMZ, Miller is suing the aforementioned parties for unspecified damages.