MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th June, 2020) Law enforcement in the Atlanta city of the southeastern US state of Georgia have used tear gas to disperse protesters who took to the streets after an African American man, Rayshard Brooks, was shot dead by a police officer during arrest, right in the midst of weeks of nationwide riots against police brutality and racial discrimination, US media reported on Sunday.
Brooks, 27, died in hospital after he was shot in his back by a police officer during arrest on Friday night� as he tried to flee. According to Georgia Bureau of Investigation, he was found asleep and intoxicated in his car while in a drive thru line at a local Wendy's, obstructing the customer traffic. After failing a sobriety test, he allegedly started an altercation with the two officers, then grabbed a Taser from one of them and ran away. Public domain video footage of the incident did not capture the shooting, but recorded the sound of three gunshots, presumably fired by the officer who chased him. Protesters took to the streets in Atlanta the next day, demanding that police be held liable.
According to CNN, police used tear gas to make protesters leave as they blocked the Interstate 85 highway, where the incident took place, burnt cars and set the Wendy's on fire. The local WSB broadcaster has reported that law enforcement used smoke bombs.
Earlier in the day, Atlanta Police Chief Erika Shields stepped down, while Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms called for the immediate termination of the two officers involved.
The Atlanta incident came on the heels of riots that have been shaking the United States since May 25 after another black man, George Floyd, was killed during arrest by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
