Jun 16, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Rayshard Brooks' family demands "drastic change" in policing

Rayshard Brooks' widow Tomika Miller (D) holds one of her daughters as his family and their lawyers speaks to media in Atlanta, Georgia, on Monday. Photo: Dustin Chambers/Getty Images

Rayshard Brooks' family called on Monday for justice and an overhaul of policing policies during a news conference on the Atlanta black man's fatal shooting by a white police officer in the city last week.

  • Hours later, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms pledged to sign administrative orders reforming the police, including requiring uses of deadly force to be reported to the citizen’s review board.

What they're saying: Tomika Miller, Brooks' widow, urged protesters to remain peaceful and outlined how she felt her husband had been stereotyped because of his appearance and the impact of the shooting. "I'm scared every day my children go out, my family members go out, because I don’t know they are going to come home," she said.

  • His cousin Tiara Brooks said, "The trust that we have with the police force is broken and the only way to heal some of these wounds is through a conviction and a drastic change of the police department."

What’s happening: Georgia Bureau of Investigation has launched a review into Brooks' shooting in a Wendy's parking lot on Friday. An autopsy lists his manner of death as homicide. This means it was determined that the death was caused by the actions of another person. It's up to law enforcement to decide what charges to bring, according to the Medical Examiner's Office, which notes not all homicides are murders.

  • Garrett Rolfe, the officer who fatally shot Brooks in a Wendy's parking lot on Friday, was fired and Devin Bronsan, an officer who was present during the incident, was placed on active duty.
  • Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard told CNN on Sunday authorities were weighing possible charges of murder, felony murder or aggravated assault over Brooks' shooting, with a decision expected by Wednesday.

The big picture: Brooks' death occurred amid a wave of Black Lives Matter protests calling for changes to policing following the May 25 death of George Floyd, another black man shot by a police in Minneapolis.

Go deeper: Atlanta officer fired, chief resigns, Wendy's torched after fatal shooting

Go deeper

Orion Rummler
Jun 24, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Louisville police officer involved in Breonna Taylor shooting fired

Protesters hold pictures of Breonna Taylor, left, Andrew Kearse, center, and Ahmaud Arbery, right, during a demonstration on June 22 in Boston, Massachusetts. Photo: Matthew J. Lee/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Louisville police officer Brett Hankison was fired on Tuesday, effective immediately, for "blindly" firing 10 bullets into Breonna Taylor's apartment on March 13, the police department announced.

Driving the news: Black Lives Matter protesters and activists on social media have called for punitive action in the wake of Taylor's death, after she was fatally shot by police who entered her apartment without warning through a "no-knock" warrant.

Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow
Orion Rummler
Jun 23, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Georgia passes bipartisan hate crimes bill

Protesters in Brunswick, Georgia on June 4 after a court appearance by Gregory and Travis McMichael, who were arrested on charges of murder and aggravated assault. Photo: Sean Rayford/Getty Images

Georgia's legislature voted 127-38 on Tuesday to pass a bill requiring police officers to document when someone is subjected to a hate crime on the basis of race, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, religion or national origin.

The big picture, via the Wall Street Journal: Georgia has been weighing the passage of a hate crimes law for two decades.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Axios Events
Updated Jun 19, 2020 - Axios Events

Watch: A conversation to commemorate Juneteenth

On Friday, June 19, Axios' markets reporter Dion Rabouin hosted a discussion on the history of Juneteenth and the current nationwide protests against police violence, featuring former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, BET founder Robert Johnson and activist DeRay Mckesson.

Robert Johnson discussed the history of Juneteenth and his advocacy around reparations.

  • On reparations and race relations: "Reparations is a demand on the part of African-Americans that we be made whole for the wealth that was stolen from slaves over a 300 year period...My position is that white America should recognize the debt and black Americans should be proud to accept the atonement."
  • How slavery laid the foundation for racial income inequality: "It is no secret that the net income of a white family is $170,000 on average. The net income of a black family is $17,000. That 10-fold disparity can be traced directly back to the wealth transfer that started with slave labor."

Mayor Sylvester Turner focused on policy decisions around policing in Houston, and responded to calls for defunding the police.

  • On his decision to increase police funding: "We need policing. [People] are asking for good policing. They're asking for a policing system that's accountable. They're also going beyond that...They want to be investing in communities and neighborhoods that have been overlooked and under invested in for decades."

Valerie Jarrett discussed the ongoing demonstrations around the country and the upcoming election in November.

  • On the importance of civil rights during this political moment: "We need a robust civil rights division...in deciding how you want to vote, you should say, are the people who are in office actually worrying about the civil rights of all Americans and not just some Americans?"
  • On how to make cultural progress: "It's not good enough to just say, 'Look, I'm not a racist.' What you have to say is: 'What am I going to do to help change our culture, to make it better?' There's something that we can all do individually. There's certainly something the business community can do."

DeRay Mckesson highlighted how the present moment invites people to reimagine the concept of safety.

  • "The question is not police, no police. The question is like, how do I stay safe and what does safety look like? The police are not the best answer to that. The police aren't the only answer to that. And the police shouldn't be the answer that we fund when we think of that question."

Thank you Bank of America for sponsoring this event.