Rayshard Brooks Funeral to Be Held at Church Where Martin Luther King Preached

Rayshard Brooks, who was fatally shot by a police officer, is to be remembered at a private funeral on Tuesday at the church in Atlanta where the Rev Martin Luther King Jr once preached.

The private funeral at Ebenezer Baptist Church follows a public viewing held Monday. The Rev Raphael Warnock, senior pastor at the church and a Democratic candidate for Senate, will deliver the eulogy.

“Rayshard Brooks wasn’t just running from the police. He was running from a system that makes slaves out of people. A system that doesn’t give ordinary people who’ve made mistakes a second chance, a real shot at redemption,” Warnock plans to say, according to a short excerpt released Monday.

Officer Garrett Rolfe fatally shot Brooks in the back after Brooks fired a Taser in his direction while running away after a struggle with officers outside a Wendy’s restaurant on 12 June. Rolfe, 27, is white. Brooks, 27, was Black.

{snip}

Actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry has offered financial help for the services, according to that statement.

{snip}

Fulton county district attorney Paul Howard announced 11 charges against Rolfe, including felony murder, and said the officer kicked Brooks as he lay dying. {snip}

{snip}