On Wednesday, the Atlanta District Attorney’s Office announced that one of the two officers involved in the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks had agreed to testify as a state’s witness against the officer who fired the shots that killed the 27-year-old black man.
But now, that second officer said he never agreed to any such thing.
According to Reuters, Devin Brosnan, said through his lawyers that he has not agreed to be a witness for the prosecution against Garrett Rolfe, who has been charged with felony murder and 10 other charges following Brooks’ death.
“Officer Brosnan has not agreed to testify. He has not agreed to plead guilty,” Brosnan’s lawyer, Don Samuel, said in a statement emailed to Reuters. “He will continue to tell the DA or the GBI, or any other investigator what happened.”
That claim flies in the face of what Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said at a news conference Wednesday, where he claimed Brosnan had agreed to testify against his now former coworker.
Brosnan has been charged with several counts including aggravated assault and violation of his oath for his role in Brooks’ shooting death, after prosecutors allege he stood on Brooks' body after he was shot.
According to police reports and footage from the scene, both Brosnan and Rolfe responded to a call about an intoxicated man sleeping in a car in a Wendy’s parking lot. When they arrived, they found a drunk Brooks. After giving him a sobriety test, which he failed, police attempted to take Brooks into custody. He resisted arrest and became physically violent with the officers before grabbing one of their tasers and firing it at police. Rolfe fired at Brooks and hit him twice in the back.
In the charges, the DA's office has also alleged that Rolfe kicked Brooks and failed to provide medical assistance for more than two minutes after he was shot.
Since the officers were charged, multiple Atlanta police officers have reportedly "called out" of work in protest, with many reportedly refusing to answer radio calls and walking off their shifts.