Wife, family members & grieving public pay last respects to Rayshard Brooks after controversial Atlanta police shooting
THE wife and family members of Rayshard Brooks, as well as the grieving public, paid their last respects to the young man after he died in a controversial Atlanta police shooting. A hearse carried the 27-year-old to the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Georgia on Monday afternoon. On the side of the hearse was a poster […]
THE wife and family members of Rayshard Brooks, as well as the grieving public, paid their last respects to the young man after he died in a controversial Atlanta police shooting.
A hearse carried the 27-year-old to the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Georgia on Monday afternoon.
On the side of the hearse was a poster with a photograph of Brooks and a caption which read “Killed in Atlanta, Georgia 2020.”
Members of the church then carried Brooks’ body into the building, which was encased in a gold coffin.
When the coffin was later opened it showed the young man lying in a white suit, with a gold tie and pocket square, and holding a pair of sunglasses.
As his body was prepared for the viewing, his wife, Tomika Miller, arrived at the church wearing a white dress which had a photograph of the couple printed onto it.
Her dress had gold flowers on the back of it, which matched Brooks’ casket.
Tomika was pictured placing her hand on her late husband’s chest, before leaving his casket and hugging a fellow mourner.
The grieving public were also pictured queuing outside, waiting to go inside and pay their respects.
Demonstrators also attended the viewing, holding posters and an American flag outside of the church.
A funeral will be held at the same church on Tuesday, CNN reported.
Rayshard Brooks was a Black man who was shot dead in the car park of Wendy’s on University Avenue in southwest Atlanta on June 12.
A restaurant employee called 911 and said they thought Brooks, a 27-year-old father to four kids, was drunk.
“I tried to wake him up but he’s parked dead in the middle of the drive-thru, so I don’t know what’s wrong with him,” the Wendy’s employee said.
He was fatally shot by Garrett Rolfe, a 27-year-old white police officer, who was immediately fired from the force and later charged with felony murder.
Brooks worked at a “tortilla place” in Atlanta.
He had been celebrating his 8-year-old daughter’s birthday in an arcade on the day of his death.
Brooks leaves behind two other daughters, ages 3 and 1, and a 13-year-old stepson.
In a news conference held on June 13, attorney Miller said his family had been planning a party for his eldest daughter: “They had a birthday party for her … with cupcakes.
“While we were sitting there talking to her mom about why her dad’s not coming home.”
He added that Brooks had planned to take his 8-year-old skating on June 13 for her birthday: “She had her birthday dress on because she was waiting for her dad to come pick her up to take her to go skating.”
Since his death, protests have erupted across the city of Atlanta.
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Demonstrators set fire to the Wendy’s restaurant that the incident took place at.
Others lined up in front of the fast food chain holding AR-15’s and handguns, surrounded by memorials left in tribute to the 27-year-old father.
The site has become a place of remembrance for Brooks, with “RIP Rayshard” written on the concrete that encases the restaurant’s window.