Former Georgia presidential candidate Stacey Abrams said the death of Rayshard Brooks - a 27-year-old black man who had been shot twice in the back by police in Atlanta - was murder.
"The decision to shoot him in the back was made out of impatience or frustration or panic, but it was not a decision that warranted lethal force. It was murder. "
The police confronted Brooks in Wendy's parking lot. Several videos from the police, a restaurant, and witnesses have shown that confrontation is used to piece together the last minutes of Brooks' life.
Abrams said it was clear that the officers knew that Brooks was not a threat.
"It was a man who had been searched, so they knew he did not have a lethal weapon. They knew he was weakened because he had parked in this driveway. And they knew, when he fled, that he was not a mortal incentive danger. "
"At no time did he present a danger which justified his death," she added.
Attempts to justify Brooks' murder dehumanize him, said Abrams.
"Each moment of justification is a moment of dehumanization. This is the problem. Let's not be distracted. The distraction that occurs is that we are trying to find reasons why the murder is acceptable when a black man or a black woman is the victim and that should not happen, "she said.
She disagreed with calls to dismantle the police and instead agreed to "reallocate resources for the public good".