A sheriff from Georgia insisted to CNN on Tuesday that Atlanta police officer Devin Brosnan was "justified" in killing Rayshard Brooks, who was shot in the back.
Burke Country Sheriff Alfonzo Williams reacted to the killing during an interview with CNN's Brianna Keilar.
According to Williams, it would be "ridiculous" not to expect officers to chase down Brooks as he was running away with a police-issued Taser.
"Brooks was engaged with a fight with the officers, they were on the ground," the sheriff explained. "We know that when we're on the ground, we have a very high likelihood of being hurt or killed."
"He flees, they give chase," Williams continued. "He's committed two felony counts [against officers] and he needs to be held accountable. So they are perfectly justified in running behind Brooks to capture him."
The sheriff noted that Brooks fired the Taser at the officer during the chase.
"If an officer is hit with that Taser, all of his muscles will be locked up and he'll have the inability to move and to respond," Williams said. "The likelihood of him being stomped in the head or having his firearm taken and used against him was a probability and so he did what he needed to do."
"This was a completely justified shooting," he added.
"So you think lethal force here was necessary?" Keilar asked.
"It's very necessary," Williams replied. "The Fourth Amendment allows it. This is the objective reasonableness standard. And there's nothing malicious or sadistic in the way these officers behaved."
Williams complained that the firing of the involved officers will send a message that black children should run away from law enforcement "and expect nothing to happen."
Before concluding the interview, Keilar asked Williams, who is black, whether the officers would have used force so quickly against a white man.
"I think we have a serious issue in this country with law enforcement officers using force against black persons or persons of color versus other persons," Williams admitted. "I'm not sure exactly why that exists."
"You're saying that escalation to the Taser might not have happened if it were a white man?" the CNN host pressed.
"I'm not saying that at all," Williams objected. "I'm saying what happened in the Brooks case is completely justified. 100%."
"The suspect could have complied and none of this would have happened," he concluded.
Watch the video below from CNN.
