An Atlanta police officer charged in Rayshard Brooks' death believes he 'didn't do anything wrong'

• Atlanta police officer Devin Brosnan was charged with aggravated assault following the June 12 fatal shooting of 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks.
• Brosnan was seen on video footage of the incident putting his foot on Brooks after he had been shot by police officer Garrett Rolfe, who has since been fired and charged with murder.
• Brosnan told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the move was "just an instinctual thing" and believes he "didn't do anything wrong" in the events surrounding Brooks' death.

An Atlanta police officer who was charged the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks has spoken out about the incident, telling the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he believes he "didn't do anything wrong."

"I have full faith in the criminal justice system," Devin Brosnan told AJC. "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."

Brooks, 27, was fatally shot during a traffic stop on June 12, after a struggle with police when they tried to arrest him following a sobriety test. The incident happened in a Wendy's parking lot, after an employee called 911 to report Brooks had fallen asleep behind the wheel of his car in the drive-thru line.

Both officers involved in the shooting — Brosnan and Garrett Rolfe — now face criminal charges.

Brosnan, who has since been put on administrative leave by the police department, was charged with aggravated assault after footage of the incident showed his foot on Brooks following the shooting. Rolfe, the officer who shot Brooks, has been fired from the force and charged with felony murder.

Brosnan has been released from jail on a $50,000 bond, and he spoke to AJC for an interview that was published on Tuesday, the same day as Brooks' funeral.

"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 told AJC. "That being said, I'm still willing to cooperate."

He called Brooks' death "heartbreaking" and a "tragedy," but said he doesn't think he would do anything differently if he was put in the situation again.

He said that he put his foot on Brooks' head because Brooks had taken his Taser, and he was "trying to figure out what's going on."

Brosnan was knocked down on to the pavement during a struggle with Brooks, and his attorney told AJC that he had a concussion, which left him disoriented.

Video footage from the incident shows Brooks appearing to point the Taser at Rolfe before he was shot.

"It's totally just an instinctual thing for my own safety," Brosnan said of putting his foot on Brooks. "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."

Video footage from the night of the shooting showed that Brosnan and Rolfe took two minutes before administering aide to Brooks after he was shot in the back by Rolfe.

Brooks' widow, Tomika Miller, told CNN she was appalled by Brosnan and Rolfe's actions on the night of her husband's death.

"I don't know what I would have done if I would have seen it for myself. But I felt everything he felt just by hearing what he went through. And it hurt. It hurt really bad," she said.

• Read more:
• The officer accused of killing Rayshard Brooks was moved to a different jail over security concerns
• The deaths of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks have soured the already strained relationship between Black people and the police
• Garrett Rolfe, the officer charged with killing Rayshard Brooks, was accused of covering up a police shooting of a Black man in 2015
• A 'higher than usual' number of Atlanta police officers call out after former colleague charged with murder over the killing of Rayshard Brooks