A funeral service for Rayshard Brooks, a Black man who was fatally shot by a white police officer in Atlanta earlier this month, will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the city’s historic Ebenezer Baptist Church.
The Rev. Bernice A. King and Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church, will provide the eulogy. Gospel singers Smokie Norful, Tamela Mann and Kurt Carr are expected to perform at the service.
“Ebenezer is a parish for all people, a sanctuary for those who suffer,” Warnock said in a statement. “Rayshard was not a member of our church but he, and his loved ones, are a part of our family. We seek to embrace them, comfort them and walk beside them in the days ahead.”
Atlanta-based entertainment mogul Tyler Perry has offered to pay for the funeral arrangements.
Brooks, a 27-year-old father of four, died June 12 after being shot by an Atlanta police officer, who had responded to a Wendy’s restaurant following reports that Brooks was asleep in his car in the drive-thru lane.
Brooks failed a sobriety test, and when police tried to handcuff him, an altercation broke out.
Brooks then took one of the officers’ Tasers, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Video of the incident shows him running away from the officers as he appears to turn and point the Taser in the direction of one of the officers, who fired his handgun, striking Brooks twice in the back.
The officer, Garrett Rolfe, was fired and charged with felony murder.