Vince Champion — southeast regional director of the International Brotherhood of Police officers
There are reports tonight that police officers in Atlanta, Georgia walked off the job tonight after murder charges were filed against Officer Garrett Rolfe in the death of Rayshard Brooks last weekend.
Vince Champion, southeast regional director of the International Brotherhood of Police officers, was on ABC News tonight to discuss the charges against the Atlanta police officers.
Champion told ABC New, “What we do know is you’re tearing up the Atlanta police department.”
Warning: This ABC news report is hard to watch and loaded with complete BS.
There are now reports that several police officers walked off of the job tonight in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution confirmed the reports.
Atlanta PD #blueflue I've heard conflicting reports on this, rumors on both sides, but the Atlanta Journal Constitution, ATL's largest paper, confirmed it. The walkout is happening.https://t.co/uCXsnStezh
— Looming Meadows (@Looming_Meadows) June 18, 2020
From the Atlanta Journal Constitution:
“There are officers saying they are not going to leave the precinct unless to help another officer,” Vince Champion, Southeast regional director for the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Some are walking off and sitting in their personal vehicles.”
And the Atlanta Police confirmed there was a call out tonight.
Earlier suggestions that multiple officers from each zone had walked off the job were inaccurate. The department is experiencing a higher than usual number of call outs with the incoming shift. We have enough resources to maintain operations & remain able to respond to incidents.
— Atlanta Police Department (@Atlanta_Police) June 18, 2020
Decaturish reported:
The head of Atlanta’s police union confirmed Wednesday that officers from the Atlanta Police Department in Zones 3 and 6 walked off the job Wednesday afternoon.
Vince Champion, southeast regional director of the International Brotherhood of Police officers, said that police officers had stopped answering calls midshift, in response to charges against Officer Garrett Rolfe who is accused of murdering Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta.
“The union, we would never advocate this. We wouldn’t advocate a blue flu,” Champion said. “We don’t know the numbers. Apparently we’re learning that command staff are asking outlying counties for support and aren’t getting it.”
Decaturish has calls out to public affairs officers in Gwinnett, DeKalb and Cobb counties for confirmation. A message to the spokesperson for Atlanta Police was not immediately returned.
A spokesperson for APD called reports of a walkout “inaccurate.”
“Earlier suggestions that multiple officers from each zone had walked off the job were inaccurate,” the spokesperson said. “However, the department is experiencing a higher than usual number of call-outs with the incoming shift. We have enough resources to maintain operations and remain able to respond to incidents throughout the city.”
Zones 3 and 6 cover south Atlanta, where Rolfe killed Rayshard Brooks after a June 12 DUI arrest turned into an altercation. Rolfe fired three bullets at Brooks as he fled with a taser in hand. Video of the shooting suggests Brooks pointed the taser at officers as he fled.
