Civil rights attorney Leo Terrell criticized Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms for firing the officer who shot Rayshard Brooks without due process.
Brooks was shot by police Friday night in a Wendy’s parking lot after resisting arrest, fighting with police, grabbing a taser, running, then turning back to shoot the stolen taser at the pursuing officer. His death sparked another wave of protests in Atlanta over the weekend.
Appearing with conservative radio host Larry Elder and Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday night’s “Hannity” to discuss the shooting, Terrell said the Atlanta mayor was engaging in “typical Democratic playbook gamesmanship” for immediately firing the officer and characterizing his actions as an unjustified use of deadly force.
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“Let me tell you right now I have done these types of cases,” Terrell said. “People are trying, Democrats, people on those other cable networks are trying to conflate this case like George Floyd. It’s not. You look at the conversations those officers in Atlanta had with this man and it was peaceful. They are not racist.”
“And here’s the part that’s amazing,” he continued. “Keisha Bottoms, to fire that officer, wrong. He’s entitled to due process. You’re going to file charges, let a jury decide, but to make it out, to make the assumption that this case is a murder like George Floyd case is to incite people. That’s a typical democratic playbook gamesmanship …”
Terrell criticized Democratic politicians for “talking about racist police departments” when “97% of the officers are great.”
“This case is totally separate and those people, those Republicans, independent and law-abiding Democrats know darn well this case is not like George Floyd, but the Democrats want to conflate it,” he added. “I will not allow that to happen.”
Larry Elder backed up Terrell’s argument about the differences between the incidents.
“I’ve spoken to a number of officers about both these cases,” Elder said. “No officer I have spoken with has justified the killing of George Floyd, not any. Every officer I’ve spoken to about the death of Mr. Brooks has said the officer did everything by the book.”
Terrell later offered to debate South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn’s statement about being “afraid of the police” and things being worse than the days of segregation, then called for Minnesotans to “defeat” Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar. (RELATED: Greg Gutfeld Calls For ‘Facts’ On Police Engagements: Current ‘Narrative … Is Heading Towards A Race War’)
“For her to talk about eliminating the police department is ludicrous,” said Terrell. “Outright ludicrous. It’s crazy. That’s why I can’t work with these guys anymore.”