The family of Rayshard Brooks, the 27-year-old Black man who was killed by an Atlanta police officer, in a Wendy’s drive through, became extremely emotional during a press conference on Monday (June 15), expressing shock and grief that one the many incidents of Black men being killed by law enforcement has landed at their front door.
In a press conference on Monday, June 15, Brooks’ widow, Tomika Miller, along with several members of the Brooks family including his 13-year old stepson, Mekhai, daughters Memory, Dream and Blessing, whose eighth birthday was on the day after her father was killed, spoke to the press.
The trust that we had with the police force is broken, and the only way to heal some of these wounds is through a conviction and drastic change with the police department,” said his cousin, Tiara Brooks, who ended by asking how many more protests will it take to ensure an end to excessive use of force by police.
Police were called to the Wendy’s on University Avenue in Atlanta on Friday evening after Brooks’ was seen asleep in his car and blocking traffic in the drive-thru line.
But this provides little comfort to Miller and the rest of the family who remain devastated and visibility shaken at today's press conference, which actually ended after Decatur Redd and Gymaco Brooks, two of Rayshard Brooks’ male cousins, broke down in tears, with Redd crying out, “he wasn’t supposed to die.”
