Rayshard Brooks’ ‘girlfriend’ Natalie White appears in court via Zoom after being charged with setting fire to Wendy’s – The Sun
RAYSHARD Brooks' "girlfriend" Natalie White appeared in court via Zoom on Wednesday on charges that she is partially responsible for the fire set at the Wendy's where Brooks was killed by police.
White, 29, denied any involvement with setting the fire, and her attorney claimed that surveillance footage putting her at the scene of the crime only shows that she was at the Atlanta Wendy's after it was already on fire.
Brooks, a 27-year-old Black man who was shot dead by cops on June 12 after falling asleep at the wheel in the Wendy's drive-thru and failing a sobriety test, told cops on the night he was killed that he was picking up food for him and his girlfriend – Natalie White.
Brooks was married to Tomika Miller. White's attorney confirmed that his client was "very close" with Brooks, but refused to say more about the relationship out of respect for Miller and the rest of Brooks' family, according to The Daily Mail.
Brooks' family held a memorial for him at Atlanta's historic Ebenezer Baptist Church on Tuesday, according to CBS, the same day that White turned herself into police in connection with the fire.
Police issued a warrant for her arrest over the weekend and shared surveillance footage of her, claiming she was partly responsible for setting the Wendy's on fire the day after Brooks was shot.
White's attorney Drew Findling said that while she was at the Wendy's on June 13, the restaurant was already on fire when she got there.
However, a judge said she was a danger to the community and ordered her held on a $10,000 bond.
When Atlanta police announced White's arrest on Tuesday afternoon, they refused to comment on the case against the officers involved in Brooks' death, according to the Mail.
On the night of his death, Brooks told cops that he had one margarita before he feel asleep at the wheel at Wendy's.
After a struggle that ensued when cops tried arresting him, Brooks grabbed one of the officer's Tasers and attempted to run away.
Officer Garrett Rolfe shot him twice in the back after Brooks reportedly tried to shoot the Taser at him.
Brooks' death led to widespread protests in the area, and is being cited as another example of racial injustice as protests across the nation call for major police reform.
Rolfe has since been charged with felony murder, while the other officer on the scene, Devin Brosnan, has been charged with aggravated assault for allegedly standing on Brooks' shoulder.
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