Georgia Sheriff: Lethal Force Was 'Very Necessary' with Rayshard Brooks

Appearing Tuesday on CNN, Burke County, Georgia, Sheriff Alfonzo Williams said that Atlanta police officers’ use of deadly force in Friday’s fatal shooting of Rayshard Brooks was “very necessary” and “there’s nothing malicious or sadistic” in the conduct of the officers who shot him.

A transcript is as follows: 

BRIANNA KEILAR: So you think lethal force here was necessary?

ALFONZO WILLIAMS: It was very necessary. The Fourth Amendment allows it. This is the objective, reasonableness standard. There’s nothing malicious or sadistic in the way these officers behaved. It’s very unfortunate that the law enforcement leaders in the state of Georgia have not come out and stood together on this case. I think it’s political and it’s senseless.

We’re sending the wrong message to our black youth. We’re telling them that it’s okay that they can run from the police, they can take a weapon from the police, they can fight with the police and point a weapon at the police and expect nothing to happen. That is the wrong message to send to black youth. Now, we cannot — we cannot, Brianna, put this case with the Ahmaud Arbery case, nor the George Floyd case. When I saw the George Floyd case, I was outraged.