The stepmother of former Atlanta Police Department officer Garrett Rolfe has purportedly been fired from her job in the wake of Rolfe being charged in the death of Rayshard Brooks, Fox News Channel primetime host Tucker Carlson reported Thursday evening.
“Until today, [Rolfe’s stepmother] — her name is Melissa Rolfe — was the H.R. director at a place called Equity Prime Mortgage in Atlanta, Georgia, but today she was let go and she is no longer in that role” Carlson stated. “Apparently, she was fired and her only crime was being Officer Rolfe’s stepmother.”
The Fox News host continued: “According to sources familiar with the matter, who spoke to this program, Rolfe was promised that her job was safe, but today she was told, ‘We have to terminate our relationship with you.'”
“No other explanation was offered, and honestly, no other explanation was needed. It was obvious what happened,” Carlson added. “Rolfe has already been scrubbed from the company’s website, wiped away like the Bolsheviks did with those who lost favor with Joseph Stalin.”
Carlson’s report comes after Rolfe was charged Wednesday with murder in connection to the fatal shooting of Brooks.
In addition to the murder count, Garrett Rolfe has been charged with three counts of aggravated assault and seven counts of violation of oath by an officer, all felonies. Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announced the charges during a news conference.
Rolfe shot and killed Rayshard Brooks on Friday while trying to arrest the man for suspected DUI.
Another officer on the scene, Devin Brosnan, also faces one count of aggravated assault and two counts of violation of oath. Howard said Brosnan, who is on administrative duty, plans to testify against Rolfe in the state’s case.
Video from the arrest released by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation appears to show Brooks taking a Taser from an officer, running from police, and then turning back toward them before Rolfe shot at him.
Burke County, Georgia, Sheriff Alfonzo Williams told CNN Tuesday that Atlanta police officers’ use of deadly force was “very necessary” and “there’s nothing malicious or sadistic” in their conduct.
“It was very necessary. The Fourth Amendment allows it. This is the objective, reasonableness standard,” said Williams. “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.”
Williams added: 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.”
The UPI contributed to this report.
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