美国国家公共电台 NPR--2 Atlanta police officers won't face any charges in Rayshard Brooks shooting

2 Atlanta police officers won't face any charges in Rayshard Brooks¹ shooting

Transcript²

A prosecutor³ in Atlanta says he is dropping charges against two white police officers because he believes race was not a factor in the deadly 2020 shooting of Rayshard Brooks, a Black man.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Charges are being dismissed against two Atlanta police officers involved in the deadly shooting of a Black man outside a fast food restaurant in 2020. Rahul Bali from member station WABE takes a closer look at the decision in the death of Rayshard Brooks.

RAHUL BALI, BYLINE⁴: Atlanta police officers were first called out to the Wendy's for someone who had fallen asleep in their car while in the drive-through line. Officers Devin Brosnan and, eventually, Garrett Rolfe responded, engaging in a calm, 40-minute conversation. When officers tried to arrest Brooks for DUI, that's when things turned deadly. Special Prosecutor Pete Skandalakis.

PETE SKANDALAKIS: Officers had no way of knowing or anticipating that within seconds of this encounter, both would be attacked by Brooks and that Brooks would overpower them, take the taser from one of them, fire the stolen taser at both of them and then attempt to escape while continuing to fire the taser at the pursuing officer.

BALI: That's when Officer Rolfe opened fire, hitting Brooks twice. On Tuesday, Skandalakis and his co-counsel, Danny Porter, spent more than an hour explaining the decision during a press conference, which included showing still images from multiple videos of the events leading up to the deadly shooting. Porter addressed questions about Brooks being hit in the back while running away.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DANIEL PORTER: In this case, Officer Rolfe's first shot was fired while Brooks was still aiming the taser at him. All three shots were fired in approximately 0.56 seconds.

BALI: L. Chris Stewart, an attorney for Rayshard Brooks' family, takes issue with deadly force being used as Brooks ran away instead of when officers were physically⁵ struggling with Brooks.

L CHRIS STEWART: They didn't know if he was reaching for a gun or whatever. They could have used deadly force. And I would have backed any officer that did it. But they did not. They did not. They chose not to when they were justified⁶. But they decided⁷ to use lethal⁸ force as a man was running away 19 feet away.

BALI: On a larger level, Stewart says the issue is that a jury or grand jury never got to consider the case.

STEWART: All we're asking is that the community resolves these situations when it's a close call and it goes to a grand jury, letting the people decide.

BALI: Stewart says the path now is a civil suit against the city of Atlanta.

For NPR News, I'm Rahul Bali in Atlanta.

(SOUNDBITE OF KAMASI WASHINGTON'S "SEVEN PRAYERS")

1 brooks   

n.小溪( brook的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks gave the business when Haas caught him with his watch. 哈斯抓到偷他的手表的布鲁克斯时，狠狠地揍了他一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ade and Brooks exchanged blows yesterday and they were severely punished today. 艾德和布鲁克斯昨天打起来了，今天他们受到严厉的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

6 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。