The former Atlanta police officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks last June has asked to be put back on the force. An attorney for former officer Garrett Rolfe said the city relieved him of duty “without a proper investigation,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Thursday (April 22).

Rolfe’s attorney, Lance LoRusso, told the Atlanta Civil Service Board that his client wasn’t given an adequate opportunity to defend himself before Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced his termination. “It is clear that we do not have another day, another minute, another hour to waste,” Bottoms said at the time, according to the Journal-Constitution.

Brooks was shot and killed after police were called to a Wendy’s restaurant to respond to a report that someone had fallen asleep in their car in the drive-thru lane. Brooks was shot twice in the back during a struggle when Rolfe attempted to arrest him.

Brooks’ killing came less than a month after George Floyd’s murder and amidst global protests against police brutality. Video of Brooks’ death circulated social media and promptly fueled the ongoing protests. The Wendy’s restaurant where Brooks was killed was later burned to the ground.

The attorney representing the city of Atlanta, Allegra Lawrence-Hardy, said that leaving Rolfe on the force at the time “would’ve been extremely disruptive,” per the Journal-Constitution.

Rolfe faces a felony murder charge for the death of Rayshard Brooks. In August 2020, Rolfe filed a lawsuit against Mayor Bottoms and the Atlanta police chief over his firing.

Photo: Getty Images

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