Chris Stewart, attorney for the family of Rayshard Brooks, defended Brooks resisting arrest based on what happened to George Floyd.
Brooks was shot twice by an Atlanta police officer Friday night in a Wendy’s parking lot after he resisted arrest, grabbed a police taser, ran off, and turned back and pointed the taser at the pursuing officer. Protests erupted in the city over the weekend which culminated in the burning of the Wendy’s restaurant where the incident occurred.
During a family press conference on Monday, Stewart stepped in after Brooks’ window, Tomika Miller, had responded to a question about George Floyd’s death being a topic of family discussion.
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“It goes to a point of people asking well why would he resist when they were trying to put him in handcuffs,” said Stewart. “Well, they put George Floyd in handcuffs and he was subsequently killed so just getting put in handcuffs if you are African-American doesn’t mean oh you’re going to get nicely taken to the back of the police car.”
“So especially watching this video of George Floyd over and over again, his reaction may have been ‘I’m not getting put in handcuffs,'” he continued. “So we can’t just toss it out because he resisted. George Floyd didn’t, and it ended the same way.”
Speaking about Brooks’ death during a Saturday night panel segment on Fox News’ “Justice with Judge Jeanine,” former police officer and Secret Service agent Dan Bongino noted that, absent a change in law, “resisting arrest is a crime.” (RELATED: ‘I Only Kneel For One Person’: Black Georgia State Trooper Refuses To Kneel At Black Lives Matter Protest)
“If you don’t like that, change the laws and good luck having anyone arrested in your community ever,” Bongino said. “I want to be clear what you are suggesting if you are suggesting that’s not a crime. Do you think anyone can throw blows at the cops and take their weapons and run from them?”