Protests over racism and police violence continue nationwide, sparked by outrage over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who was killed last month while in the custody of Minneapolis police.
Live updates for Monday, June 22, continue below:
Judge moves Garrett Rolfe bond hearing to avoid overlap with Rayshard Brooks’ funeral
Update 10:13 p.m. EDT June 22: A Fulton County judge has moved the bond hearing for one of the Atlanta police officers accused of shooting and killing Rayshard Brooks to avoid overlap with the victim’s funeral.
Brooks’ funeral is set for 1 p.m. Tuesday, and the original bond hearing for former officer Garrett Rolfe was scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Fulton County Courthouse, WSB-TV reported.
According to Superior Court Judge Constance Russell’s order, attorneys for Rolfe can reschedule the hearing by contacting the court administrator’s office, but the case has already been removed from the court docket for this week, the TV station reported.
Des Moines passes racial profiling ordinance
Update 9:54 p.m. EDT June 22: The Des Moines City Council passed a racial profiling ordinance Monday requiring the city’s police department to commit itself to the “unbiased, equitable treatment of all people regardless of what they look like,” KCCI reported.
Most notably, the ordinance creates a community policing and code enforcement policy committee charged with reviewing citywide police practices. It also calls for an annual review of the policy and mandatory annual training for all officers, the TV station reported.
Seattle police returning to precinct emptied during protests
Update 9:29 p.m. EDT June 22: The Seattle Police Department will be returning to the East Precinct, which was boarded up and abandoned since protesters established an “autonomous zone” outside the building, CNN reported.
No timeline has been offered for the homecoming, but Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said during a news conference that officers responding to a second shooting in as many days within the confines of the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone were met by a “hostile crowd” that prevented first responders from reaching the victims quickly.
Meanwhile, Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best said during the news conference that there have also been reports of rape, arson and property destruction in the zone.
“We cannot walk away from the truth of what is happening here,” Best said. “This is about life or death.”
Seattle moving toward dismantling protest zone, mayor says
Update 8:43 p.m. EDT June 22: Seattle’s mayor said Monday that officials will move to disband an “occupied” protest zone following two unrelated shootings in recent days within the perimeter of the makeshift camp.
“The cumulative impacts of the gatherings and protests and the nighttime atmosphere and violence has led to increasingly difficult circumstances for our businesses and residents,” Mayor Jenny Durkan said during a news conference, adding, “The impacts have increased, and the safety has decreased.”
Specifically, she said that the violence is distracting from changes sought by thousands of peaceful protesters, intent on addressing police brutality and racial inequality, The Associated Press reported.
A 17-year-old was shot in the arm Saturday night, while gunfire only hours earlier killed one 19-year-old man and left another critically injured, the AP reported.
The “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest,” or CHOP, takes up several city blocks in the neighborhood near downtown for which the camp is named.
City of Compton demands answers over death of Andres Guardado
Update 8 p.m. EDT June 22: The city of Compton is demanding answers over the death of Andres Guardado, who was fatally shot June 18 by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, CNN reported
“The only acceptable reaction to the murder of Andres Guardado is immediate action by all responsible parties. People are hurting and they are tired of excuses. I strongly urge the LA County Sheriff’s Department to address this incident immediately and provide answers for the family and our community,” the city of Compton said in a prepared statement.
Guardado, 18, was spotted by two sheriff’s deputies in front of a business on West Redondo Beach Boulevard just before 6 p.m. Thursday, CNN reported.
Captain Kent Wegener, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau said during a Saturday news conference that Guardado “reportedly looked toward the deputies” and “produced a handgun,” before running down the driveway of the business.
The deputies pursued Guardado and caught up to him at the rear of the business, where one deputy fired six rounds, Wegener said.
The Los Angeles County Coroner confirmed an autopsy is pending, but Wegener confirmed Guardado was hit in the upper torso and pronounced dead at the scene, CNN reported.
Hundreds show up to pay final respects to Rayshard Brooks
Update 7:12 p.m. EDT June 22: A long line of people wound outside of Ebenezer Baptist Church on Monday as people across metro Atlanta said their final goodbyes to Rayshard Brooks.
About an hour before the four-hour public viewing began, a gold-colored casket carrying Brooks’ body arrived at the church. Brooks’ widow, Tomika Miller, followed a short time later wearing a white dress printed with a photo of the two of them, WSB-TV reported.
Read more here.
US Naval Academy rescinds appointment offer to Maryland student after racist posts
Update 6:04 p.m. EDT June 22: The U.S. Naval Academy has rescinded an offer of appointment to a Maryland student after the institution was notified of racist messages made by the student on a social media platform.
According to the Capital Gazette, the unnamed Montgomery County high school student made racist, transphobic and sexist statements on chat platform Discord in 2018, including one that included saying he would make someone in the group chat his next rape victim.
After evaluating the “racist and inappropriate” messages made by the student, the Naval Academy Admission’s Character Review Committee recommended that the academy withdraw its offer of appointment for the student, said Dean of Admissions Bruce Latta in a statement.
Public viewing for Rayshard Brooks begins
Update 3:25 p.m. EDT June 22: The public viewing for Rayshard Brooks has begun at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. The same church will be the location for his funeral Tuesday afternoon.
Drivers support Bubba Wallace before race
Update 3:00 p.m. EDT June 22: Teams of Bubba Wallace’s competitors pushed his car to the starting line in advance of the start at Talladega in a show of unity after a noose was found hanging in his garage area.
Wallace also posted a selfie of himself standing in front of the crews on the track.
Bubba Wallace did not see noose left in garage
Update 1:40 p.m. EDT June 22: A source at Richard Petty Motorsports said Bubba Wallace did not see the noose left hanging in his garage stall at Talladega Superspeedway over the weekend. A member of the team saw it and reported it, CNN reported.
Drivers will show their support for Wallace at the delayed race which is scheduled for Monday afternoon after rain postponed the race Sunday. Drivers are expected to push his car to the front of the grid, according to media reports.
FBI investigating noose at Bubba Wallace’s Talladega Superspeedway stall
Update 11:38 a.m. EDT June 22: The FBI is now investigating who left a noose hanging at the Talladega Superspeedway garage stall, The Associated Press reported. Wallace is the only African-American full-time driver in NASCAR.
The noose was found after the race had been postponed by rain. The sanctioning body said it will do everything possible to find who left it and “eliminate them from the sport.”
The Talladega County Sheriff Jimmy Kilgore told the AP that NASCAR officials alerted the FBI.
Wallace went to social media after the incident.
The Department of Justice has confirmed its review of the incident.
Public viewing to be held today for Rayshard Brooks
Update 5:38 a.m. EDT June 22: The public is invited to say goodbye today to Rayshard Brooks, who was killed by Atlanta police earlier this month.
According to WSB-TV, the death of Brooks, 27, has sparked days of protests and led to the resignation of Atlanta’s police chief.
The viewing will be held from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. EDT Monday at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.
“Ebenezer is a parish for all people, a sanctuary for those who suffer,” said the Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, senior pastor of Ebenezer. “Rayshard was not a member of our church, but he and his loved ones are a part of our family. We seek to embrace them, comfort them and walk beside them in the days ahead.”
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, anyone showing up at the church must wear a face mask, and the staff will conduct temperature checks.
Two Atlanta police officers have been charged in Brooks’ death.
Officer Devin Brosnan is being charged with aggravated assault and two violations of oath of office.
Brooks’ funeral is planned for 1 p.m. Tuesday at Ebenezer.
Warnock will deliver the eulogy, while Pastor Smokie Norful, actress/singer Tamela Mann, and Kurt Carr and Singers will provide songs of comfort.
Minority corrections officers allege they weren’t allowed to guard Chauvin
Update 3:32 a.m. EDT June 22: Several minority corrections officers in Minnesota said they were prohibited from guarding former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, who was charged with murder in George Floyd’s death.
According to The Associated Press, the eight corrections officers, who work at the Ramsey County jail, claim they were discriminated against and filed charges with the state’s Human Rights Department.
“I think they deserve to have employment decisions made based on performance and behavior,” said the workers’ attorney, Bonnie Smith, according to the AP.
Seattle police investigate another reported shooting in CHOP zone
Update 2:53 a.m. EDT June 22: Seattle police tweeted late Sunday that they are investigating a reported shooting inside the city’s protest zone, aka CHOP.
According to KIRO-TV, one person is at Harborview Medical Center with a gunshot wound, police said.
Police also said they are hearing reports of a second shooting but have not been able to verify the information.
There are conflicting reports, but police said they plan to update the public when more information comes available.
This reported shooting comes on the heels of a shooting early Saturday that left a 19-year-old dead and injured another man who’s in critical condition at Harborview.
Seattle Fire Department criticized in CHOP shootings
Published 1 a.m. EDT June 22: After a man was fatally shot and another injured near Seattle’s protest zone, critics are accusing the Seattle Fire Department of failing to help.
According to KIRO-TV, the shooting happened early Saturday morning just outside the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone, aka CHOP.
Seattle police said the scene was so dangerous that they couldn’t immediately enter.
Seattle fire said its protocol is to wait for a police escort in volatile situations. That has been their policy for many months now.
A vigil was held late Sunday afternoon for the teenager who was killed Saturday morning.
By all accounts, he was mortally injured during a chaotic scene that was dangerous even for Seattle police.
Seattle police bodycam video shows what officers and medics faced as they approached what turned out to be a deadly shooting scene near the East Precinct just after 2:30 a.m. Saturday.
“The truth of it is that, you know, 15 minutes of delay of care for someone who is actively in the process of likely dying,” said Slate, a leader of the Sentinel Scouts, the self-proclaimed peacekeepers of CHOP.
He said much of this was a reaction to the Seattle fire medics’ refusal to enter the scene without police protection.
“Life-saving intervention needed to be delivered as soon as humanly possible,” Slate said.
Instead, the victim, identified by friends as 19-year-old Lorenzo Anderson, had to rely on the kindness of strangers, who transported him in a van to Harborview Medical Center.
“After a couple of minutes, I just said, ‘We don’t have time to wait,‘” said Alex Bennett, a former nurse who happened upon the scene. “We need to just pick him up and put him into the van.”
In its defense, Seattle fire responded: “This was a scene where the risk was too high to commit our crews to respond in without a police escort.” Moreover, their “crews do not have training to go into a volatile situation to extract patients.” Therefore, they had told people to “bring the patients to the perimeter of the crowd or transport in a private vehicle,” as happened with the victims in both shootings.
Mike Solan, president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, says this is evidence that this area, and all of Seattle, is unsafe.
“And what we’re seeing is a breakdown in public safety,” Solan said.
He is calling on the city’s residents to force their leaders to act.
“Because I have no doubt that our outstanding community can solve this problem,” Solan said. “And we need to put pressure on our elected officials to solve this.”
A man who says he is a close friend of the second victim identified him as a 33-year-old man who has been going to CHOP every night to provide security.
Now, he is in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center.
Seattle police are asking for video and any information to help solve the two shooting incidents.
– The Associated Press contributed to this report.