Protesters on Saturday night burned down the Wendy’s restaurant where Atlanta police fatally shot Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old black man, according to multiple reports.
Protesters gathered around the burning building chanting “arrest the cops”, according WSB-TV, a local Atlanta news station. The TV station also reported that windows in the building were broken.
The fire at the restaurant came after a police officer fatally shot Brooks during an exchange and subsequent struggle near its drive-thru.
Atlanta Police Department (ADP) officers were dispatched to the Wendy’s Friday around 10:30 p.m. in response to complaints that Brooks was asleep in the drive-thru of the restaurant.
Police reportedly attempted to take Brooks into custody after he failed a sobriety test. Amid a struggle, he grabbed an officer’s Taser and ran off with it, police said.
Brooks reportedly gained a distance between himself and law enforcement and pointed the stun gun at an officer who then shot him.
Brooks was pronounced dead after undergoing surgery at a nearby hospital.
Protests in Atlanta have escalated since Brooks’s death Friday evening, with protesters closing down an entire highway, according to CNN.
A group of protesters also gathered outside Atlanta’s 3rd Precinct, according to the news outlet.
Atlanta Police Chief Ericka Shields resigned Saturday afternoon following the outcry over Brooks’s death, which comes on the heels of weeks of demonstrations and unrest over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in Minneapolis police custody.
Floyd’s death reignited calls from advocates and protesters for an end to police brutality and police reform legislation.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced Saturday that the APD requested an investigation into the shooting of Brooks.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) tweeted Saturday evening that an investigation had been launched into the conduct of the police officers whose actions led to the death of the 27-year-old.
–This report was updated on June 14 at 7:39 a.m.