The District Attorney pressing charges against Atlanta Police Officer Garret Rolfe, who shot a suspect who tried to use a taser on him while attempting to escape, recently charged other officers with “aggravated assault” for using a Taser in another incident.
In this clip below, DA Paul Howard said he considered tasers to be a “deadly weapon,” which contradicts his statement on Wednesday that Rayshard Brooks, who pointed a taser at police before being shot, was “never a threat to anyone, including the officers in that Wendy’s parking lot.”
I have a feeling this video of the DA in the Rayshard Brooks case claiming TWO WEEKS ago that a taser is a “deadly weapon” is going to be used by the defense in court.pic.twitter.com/NdcUlEadQN
— Jason Howerton (@jason_howerton) June 17, 2020
“Under Georgia law, a taser is considered a deadly weapon,” he said.
The clip is presumably from when Howard pressed charges against four other officers a few weeks ago who used a Taser against youth suspects.
According to a June 8 article by Atlanta’s WSB TV:
The city fired officers Mark Gardner and Ivory Streeter the day after the incident in which two young people were shocked with a Taser and pulled from their car downtown.
District Attorney Paul Howard issued arrest warrants for Gardner, Streeter and four other officers. In total, four of them were charged with aggravated assault, a serious felony.
Aggravated assault in Georgia is described as assault “with a deadly weapon or with any object, device, or instrument which, when used offensively against a person, is likely to or actually does result in serious bodily injury.”
Of course, if Howard is driven by political motives, that would explain the contradiction.
In fact, he’s struggling to stay in office after being forced into a runoff election.
“Howard came in second in the primary election for his seat on Tuesday, the worst election showing he’s had since taking office in 1997,” WSB TV also reported. “He now advances to a runoff with Democratic challenger Fani Willis.”
The Emergency Election Sale is now live! Get 30% to 60% off our most popular products today!