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Stepmother of former Atlanta police officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks fired from job
Image source: Twitter video screenshot

Stepmother of former Atlanta police officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks fired from job

Mortgage company said Melissa Rolfe 'lost the confidence of her peers, leadership, and many employees who no longer felt comfortable engaging with her'

The stepmother of the former Atlanta police officer who fatally shot Rayshard Brooks in a Wendy's parking lot last week was fired from her job as human resources director for a mortgage company.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson noted Thursday night that Melissa Rolfe "was the HR director at a place called Equity Prime Mortgage in Atlanta, Georgia. But today she was let go. She's no longer in that role. Apparently she was fired, and her only crime was being Officer [Garrett] Rolfe's stepmother."

Carlson continued: "According to a source familiar with the matter who spoke to this program, Rolfe was promised that her job was safe, but today she was told — and we're quoting — 'We have to terminate our relationship with you.' No other explanation was offered, and honestly no other explanation was needed. It was obvious what happened."

What did the mortgage company have to say?

"As an employer, it is imperative to maintain a safe environment for all employees. Melissa Rolfe's termination was a direct result of her actions in the workplace and violation of company policy," Equity Prime Mortgage said in a Twitter statement Thursday night. "While working with Melissa as she transitioned to a leave of absence granted by our organization, we discovered she violated company policy and created an uncomfortable working environment for many of our employees. As an HR director, she ultimately lost the confidence of her peers, leadership, and many employees who no longer felt comfortable engaging with her. We value diversity of thought and respect Melissa's personal views and the views of all employees; however, when those views create a hostile working environment, we must make difficult decisions to part ways."

Equity Prime Mortgage didn't elaborate in its statement on Melissa Rolfe's "actions in the workplace" nor about what she did to "violate company policy."

Prior to Carlson's report, EPM tweeted a lengthy post about how it strives for "diversity and equality."

What else did Carlson say?

"Rolfe has already been scrubbed from the company's website, wiped away as the Bolsheviks did with those who lost favor with Joseph Stalin," Carlson added during his program. "That will keep happening until lawmakers decide to resist the mob and protect ordinary people from its predations. This is where the country's going, it's becoming a place where you can be punished for the supposed misdeeds of your relatives. You don't want to be that country. All of us should put on the breaks immediately."

In a segment later in the program, Carlson said Equity Prime Mortgage responded with a message "blaming" Rolfe's "social media comments" without offering details about them. Fox News reported that she has referred to her stepson's case as "nonsense" in a social media post backing a Georgia congressional candidate.

"The bottom line is, it seems pretty clear they fired this woman because of who her stepson was, and just to restate the obvious, that shouldn't happen in this country because it's wrong, and people should say it's wrong, or it will continue to keep happening," Carlson added.

What else?

The Washington Examiner reported that Melissa Rolfe does not appear on the leadership page of Equity Prime Mortgage's website but that the Wayback Machine found her listed as recently as May.

"Melissa was born and raised in Cobb County, Ga. She is married with three grown sons and one grandson. She is honored to be your Human Resource Director and hopes to put over 20 years of experience into furthering the EPM way. She will be using her degrees in Human Resource Management and Business Management to partner with team members to make them feel appreciated, respected and heard. Her belief is that staff is the greatest asset at EPM and they need a healthy, happy, fun work environment that promotes personal and professional development," her description read, the paper added.

What's the background?

Garrett Rolfe and his former partner Devin Brosnan last Friday responded to a report that Brooks was sleeping in his car in a Wendy's drive-thru. The officers spoke to Brooks for about 40 minutes, ran a breathalyzer test, and then tried to handcuff Brooks, who resisted.

Bodycam and surveillance video show Brooks wrestling with the officers on the ground before grabbing one of their Tasers and running off. Brooks turned back and pointed the Taser at the officers, and then Rolfe shot at Brooks three times. Brooks later died.

District Attorney Paul Howard announced felony murder charges against Rolfe on Wednesday and said Brooks "never presented himself as a threat" and "never displayed any aggressive behavior."

Rolfe's attorney told Fox News that Brooks "turned and offered extreme violence toward a uniformed law enforcement officer. If he was able to deploy the Taser, it would incapacitate Officer Rolfe through his body armor, and at that point, if he decided to disarm another officer, he would be in possession of a firearm."

Two weeks earlier, Howard said a Taser is considered "a deadly weapon under Georgia law" in announcing charges against Atlanta police officers who used them while making an arrest during the George Floyd protests.

The Georgia Law Enforcement Organization conducted a fundraiser for Garrett Rolfe and said as of Thursday over $200,000 had been raised to help Rolfe's family pay for "legal services and general necessities."

(H/T: The Daily Wire)

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