Atlanta to pay $1M to Rayshard Brooks’ family after deadly police shooting

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November 22, 2022

By Chantal Da Silva and The Associated Press

Rayshard Brooks was shot and killed by Atlanta police. (Stewart Trial Attorneys / via AFP – Getty Images)

The city of Atlanta agreed Monday to pay $1 million to the family of Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old Black man who was fatally shot by a white police officer in a 2020 incident that deepened nationwide unrest in the wake of George Floyd‘s death.

Atlanta’s city council voted 15-0 to approve the settlement nearly three months after prosecutors determined in August that the officers involved in Brooks’ death June 12, 2020, had “committed no crimes” and that the use of deadly force was “reasonable.”

“This grieving family has been through so much during this process. Although the children of Mr. Brooks have lost their father, settling the case will undoubtedly assist them with future plans as they come of age,” attorneys representing Brooks’ family said in a statement, according NBC affiliate WXIA, which is based in Atlanta. The family’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Brooks was fatally shot by an officer amid national unrest over police brutality after a Minneapolis police officer murdered George Floyd.

NBC covers the story.

Brooks’ father spoke out about losing his son in 2020.

More breaking news here.

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