[Rayshard Brooks\Garrett Rolfe]
Miller told Barwick, “My husband did not deserve to die, and I should not live in fear while waiting for the man who killed my husband to be tried in court.”
Photo: YouTube
Tuesday, Atlanta’s Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jane Barwick freed the back-shooting killer-cop murderer of Rayshard Brooks on a $500,000 bond.
Judge Barwick’s decision to free killer-cop Garrett Rolfe is an outrage that epitomized institutional racism in America. Her ruling is indicative of American judicial racism.
Barwick’s ridiculous rationale for allowing this murderer to walk free, after he shot dead a fleeing Black man, tells us: much work remains to be done to fix America’s racist so-called “justice” system.
Judge Barwick ignored the pleas of Brooks’ widow, Tomika Miller, who begged her not to release Rolfe.
Miller told Barwick, “My husband did not deserve to die, and I should not live in fear while waiting for the man who killed my husband to be tried in court.” She also said, “My life is completely turned upside down since this has happened. I’ve been unable to sleep, eat, or even console my children.”
But the pleas of a Black widow obviously didn’t matter much to this judge. Her rationale for allowing this murderer to walk free is indeed illogical and bizarre.
Before releasing this murderous monster, Judge Barwick tells us she made the decision because former officer Garrett Rolfe “is not a flight risk and I do not believe he is a danger to the community.”
Huh? Isn’t “a danger” to which community Judge Barwick? White communities, or Black communities? How did she come to the conclusion he isn’t a flight risk?
Brooks was shot twice in the back—as he was running away from officer Rolfe. After this, Rolfe gleefully was recorded saying, “I got him!”
Moreover, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said Rolfe kicked the dying Brooks. Rolfe also had some 11 complaints against him in his police file. Three resulted in disciplinary action. He was, at least twice, reprimanded for improper firearms use—including an August 2015, incident where he discharged his gun.
Apparently, these are all irrelevant facts to this judge.
Did Judge Barwick have a Rip Van Winkle moment when she made this decision? Where has she been for the last month? In a timewarp? Has she not seen the clamoring for racial justice coming from many Americans in the wake of George Floyd’s murder?
We’re told Rolfe had to surrender his passport; must comply with a curfew; cannot possess any guns; must have no contact with victims, witnesses or police officers; and must wear an ankle bracelet.
Are these requirements supposed to make us feel good about Judge Warwick’s wretched decision? Does anyone think for one minute that Rolfe will not have contact with aiders-and-abettors on the police force? How do we know for sure he won’t go out and acquire a gun, or guns—assuming he doesn’t already have other guns?
Judge Barwick apparently doesn’t care about the possible bad outcomes that may occur because of her odious decision. Several bad scenarios may happen here.
First, does anyone think Rolfe and his police buddies won’t try to intimidate potential witnesses, which is now made worse by his release? What happens if Rolfe decides he can’t win the case so it’s better to go out in a blaze of glory by going on a killing spree? What happens if, like former North Carolina officer Kevin Piner, he decides he wants to slaughter Black people? What happens if Rolfe commits suicide?
Here is another scenario: what happens if his police friends help him disable the ankle monitor—and he flees the jurisdiction, or country? What then?
Judge Barwick’s decision is symptomatic of the racial partiality in America’s criminal justice system. Which judge in America would ever release the murderer of police—especially, if he were Black?
In Minneapolis, three of the four murderers of George Floyd are now also free on the streets. Would any Black person who had anything to do with the murder of police officers, regardless of their role, be released from custody?
Time and again, we hear politicians, prosecutors, and judges telling us “no one is above the law.” Obviously, that is a damn lie. Police, repeatedly, murder Black people, and almost the entire political and legal system protects and makes excuses for them.
If the roles were reversed, and Rayshard Brooks had murdered officer Rolfe, Brooks would surely never see the light of day. Rolfe’s family would not have to plead for the judge to deny bail. That would be a given. The double-standard we see here couldn’t be clearer: Black lives don’t matter. This is why the protests and struggle against American racism must continue.
America’s racist justice system does everything to make it easy for killer-cops like Garrett Rolfe to murder Black people like Rayshard Brooks–and walk away. Rolfe is now sleeping at home, while Brooks’ family will continue to have sleepless nights.
Unfortunately, when it isn’t corrupt prosecutors fixing justice to help their police buddies, its judges making asinine judgments like Judge Jane Barwick.
