Civil rights attorney Leo Terrell said Thursday that former Atlanta Police Department officer Garrett Rolfe is a victim of “reverse discrimination” who would not have been charged with murder if he were black.
“Do you honestly believe that if those officers were black, these charges would be filed? This is reverse discrimination. That’s the elephant in the room,” Terrell told Fox News’ “Hannity” during a discussion of the charges brought against Rolfe and the other police officers accused in the case.
Rolfe was fired and charged following the lethal shooting of Rayshard Brooks, who was killed after police found him asleep in his car. The conversation between Brooks and the police began in a civil tone but a video apparently shows Brooks taking the officer’s taser as the situation escalates. (RELATED: Atlanta Mayor Says Police Morale Is ‘Down Ten-Fold’: Police Department Denies Rumours Of Officers Calling Sick)
“He is going to have a fantastic case,” Terrell said of Rolfe. Terrell continued to say that Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard, who is black, had overreached his authority and “should resign or recuse himself.”
“He is using this to politicize and maximize his chances of winning [his runoff reelection as DA],” Terrell said.
Terrell argued there would have been no murder charges if the officer weren’t white.
“No one can honestly say that two black officers would have been overcharged like this,” he said, adding that Rolfe was within the law to defend himself with “reasonable force against an imminent threat, given the admission by the Georgia district attorney that a taser is deadly force.” (RELATED: Atlanta Police Department Says 8 Officers Have Left Since Beginning Of Month)