Atlanta officer Devin Brosnan, 26, was charged with aggravated assault as well as three violations of his oath of office in connection with the death of Rayshard Brooks earlier this month. Brosnan told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he was disappointed to find out about the charges handed down by Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard.
"I feel like my side wasn't really heard and given the short timeframe it's hard for anybody to understand all the facts and the whole circumstances around it," he said. "That being said, I'm still willing to cooperate."
Brosnan asserts that, contrary to what Howard said, he's not a cooperating witness, and accuses the Fulton County DA of trying politicize his involvement in the case against former officer Garrett Rolfe, who fatally struck Brooks as he tried to flee his arrest in a Wendy's parking lot on June 12.
"I just looked at it like, he could have just said I'm doing the right thing—I'm talking," Brosnan said. "But it just seemed like it was more important to make it political than it was to get to the truth of the matter and get to the real facts of it. … Some person lost their life. It’s not something to make political."
"I'm not a cooperating witness, I'm cooperating. I think that's the takeaway," he added. "I'll tell the truth to anybody who needs to hear it." Brosnan's lawyer, Don Samuel, said that an agreement with prosecutors has not been made.
Brosnan remembers his head getting slammed into the pavement and sustaining a concussion that fateful night as he, Brooks, and Rolfe struggled in the Wendy's parking lot. "I hear gunfire," he said. "I know he still has my Taser. I know there's a crowd. I got up to him and I'm trying to figure out what's going on. You need to make sure you're safe before you can help or do anything else."
Brosnan acknowledges that he did keep his foot on Brooks' shoulders. "It's totally just an instinctual thing for my own safety," he said. "When I realized I was safe, that's when I take it off. In no way, shape, or form was I trying to hurt this man."
"I have full faith in the criminal justice system," Brosnan said. "I really do. I have 100 percent faith the truth will come out. People will see this for what it is. They will understand I didn't do anything wrong. I know the truth is what counts."
Brosnan will be interviewed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation regarding Brooks' death on Tuesday.
