Fulton County Judge Issues $500 Fine, No Jail Time for Rioters Who Set Fire to Atlanta Wendy’s During BLM Protests — MTG Responds

Chisom Kingston and Natalie White (Fulton County)

A Fulton County judge has handed down lenient sentences consisting of $500 fines and no jail time for two rioters involved in the burning down of an Atlanta Wendy’s after an Atlanta Police officer shot and killed Rayshard Brooks in 2020.

Chisom Kingston and Natalie White, the two convicted, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit arson and two counts of first-degree arson.

They have been sentenced to five years of probation, a $500 fine, and are required to complete 150 hours of community service.

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In addition to Kingston and White, John Wesley Wade, 35, was indicted on the same charges earlier this year in January. All three initially pleaded not guilty and waived their arraignments in March 2022, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The charges stem from a violent BLM riot over the death of Rayshard Brooks, 27, who was killed in a police-involved shooting in June 2020. Brooks had reportedly punched Atlanta police officer, David Brosnan, and stole his taser while under investigation for a DUI in the parking lot of a Wendy’s. Brooks aimed the Taser at Officer Brosnan and a second officer, Garrett Rolfe, shot and killed Brooks during the altercation. Brooks allegedly punched Brosnan hard enough to cause a concussion, according to AJC.

As a result, rioters torched the Wendy’s in protest of Brooks’ death. An autonomous zone was created at the site but was dismantled by police a few days later. Violent demonstrations followed throughout the city over the next few months.

Officers Rolfe and Brosnan were criminally charged by former Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard five days later, the outlet reports. Brosnan was charged with aggravated assault and Rolfe faces felony murder and assault charges. Rolfe was placed on leave following the incident but was reinstated last Spring.

John Wesley Wade, the third suspect that did not take a plea deal, is a prominent Black Lives Matter activist in Atlanta and led several protests in the summer of 2020. In October 2020, Wade was arrested on federal charges over a string of violent demonstrations and was sentenced to five years in federal prison in March 2022.

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has expressed intense displeasure with the decision, citing the more stringent punishments handed down to those involved in the Capitol protests on January 6, 2021.

“J6’ers are being locked up for years for walking in the Capitol and some never walked inside at all, but the guys who plead guilty to arson and burned down the Wendy’s in Atl in 2020 BLM riots only have to pay a $500 fine!!!” she wrote.

“The scales of Justice have tipped so hard one way they have fallen off!!!” she added.

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