In response to the news of the Civil Service Board’s ruling, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) issued a statement defending the decision to terminate Rolfe’s employment at the time, and it was – quite frankly – one of the most embarrassing justifications I’ve ever seen a so-called “leader” give for this type of knee-jerk decision:

“Given the volatile state of our city and nation last summer, the decision to terminate this officer, after he fatally shot Mr. Brooks in the back, was the right thing to do,” she said. “Had immediate action not been taken, I firmly believe that the public safety crisis we experienced during that time would have been significantly worse.”

In other words, the decision to kick Rolfe off the police force rather than give him due process was done in an effort to appease mobs of violent rioters so they wouldn’t get more violent or something.

So how exactly did that work out for Mayor Bottoms? As noted above, a child was murdered by rioters who were “protecting” the parking lot, and others were shot in the area as well in weeks following Brooks’ death – all because Bottoms refused to have the Wendy’s parking lot cleared and opposed measures eventually carried out by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) to get the situation under control.