this is "nightline." >> tonight, deadly police shooting. how a routine call to police escalated. >> you're going to get tased! >> what bystander video and surveillance tape reveal about the death of rayshard brooks, the latest racial flashpoint in america. >> i didn't know i was going to wake up to my husband never coming home. plus, let it fall. looking back at the 1992 l.a. riots. a flare-up of years of injustice boiling over. now, the documentary. how the pain of the past is reflected in the push for justice today.

>> "nightline" starts right now with byron pitts. law enforcement in atlanta under fire after police shot a black man. video capturing the moment rayshard brooks was killed. we caution you, some of the images you're about to see are distu disturbing. friday night around 10:00 p.m., atlanta police respond to a call about a man blocking traffic at a wendy's drive-through. >> yo. what's up, my man? >> reporter: officer devin brosnan approaches the vehicle. the driver is 27-year-old rayshard brooks. >> did you have a long day or something? what's up? you can't -- people were calling and saying you were blocking

here. >> reporter: it eventually escalates, brooks reaching for one of the stun guns. at one point aiming and firing. one of the officers returning three gunshots. two would claim brooks' life. now the videos are at center of the latest debate about police deadly use of force. after the death of george floyd, tearing yet another american city apart. >> it didn't have to end that way. it pissed me off. it makes me sad. and i'm frustrated. >> reporter: all of this, as another family mourns the loss of a loved one. >> i didn't know i was going to wake up to my husband never coming home. >> i have a caller, i think he's intoxicated, he's in the middle

of my drive-through. i don't know what's wrong with him. >> reporter: minutes after the officer arrives, brooks pulls over into a parking spot. >> what kind of drink >> it was a margarita. >> reporter: another officer arrives, just shy of 11:00 p.m. >> how are you doing? >> i'm doing just fine. >> i wasn't here. can you tell me what happened before i got here? >> nothing happened. i was just here getting something to eat. >> reporter: brooks tells the officers he has no weapons. he's then put through a field sobriety test and a breathalyzer. 0.108, just above the legal limit. >> you had about 1 1/2 drinks? i think you have had too much to drink to drive.

>> reporter: then the officers attempt to take brooks into custody. >> mr. brooks' reaction is not all that rare. there's a serious fear of not only interacting with the police, but getting caught in the criminal justice system. we've seen people dying, losing their lives in the criminal justice system. there's real fear, and we saw that. >> mr. brooks is already registering his anxiety about being arrested. >> reporter: this man is an assistant professor of criminal justice. what is the officer supposed to think, he's resissiting arrest. >> sure. you have two officers there, and this guy is resisting. he's not attacking the officers, he's trying to get away. >> reporter: at one point, brooks reaches and grabs a stun

gun from one of the officers. the wrestling between mr. brooks and the officers and grabbing the stun gun changes it from him being unarmed to being armed. brooks starts to run. the officer chasing after him. this is when it turns fatal. >> the reaction of the officer is absolutely ludicrous. he understands based on his training what the stun gun can do to him. it's one thing to say, in the heat of the moment, i didn't know what is going on. but if you look at the video, he points the stun gun, then says, no, then pulls out his gun and uses deadly force. you can't meet nonlethal force with deadly force. that's illegal. >> i would have kept pace with him so i can radio in to my other responding officers our location. certainly with more officers, we

could have even thought about something that was less lethal. maybe hitting him with a bean bag to incapacitate him. >> reporter: brooks died later at the hospital, ruled a homicide. saying he had two gunshot wounds in his back that created organ injuries and blood loss. >> the determination of homicide as a matter of death, with two gunshots to his back helps in the sense of prosecuting against the officers. it's hard to say you're fearful of someone if they're running away from you. >> reporter: the next day, the georgia bureau of investigation declared it was looking into the sho shooting. saturday afternoon, the mayor announced the police chief's resignation, and called for reform. >> while we have a police force full of men and women who work alongside our communities with

honor, respect, and dignity, there has been a disconnect with what our expectations are and should be as it relates to interactions with our officers and the communities in which they are entrusted to protect. >> reporter: protesters soon flooded the streets. overnight, the wendy's where brooks was shot and killed was set ablaze. but emotions were already raw in atlanta. this video coming out just weeks after the killing of ahmaud arbery. this time, the shooting coming closer to home. and the atlanta police announced one officer had been terminated. the other, placed on administrative duty. and the police union telling abc news, officer rolfe was

terminated without due process. but for brooks' wife, it's not enough. >> all of them should be terminated, arrested. i mean, that was your partner. you have to suffer the same consequences he suffered. you guys were there together. >> reporter: she and brooks share three children together. blessing, memory, and dream. >> he was a great father and a great husband. he was a beautiful spirit. he was strong, he was a fighter, like, we lohe loved his family. >> reporter: also a stepfather to her son. >> i feel like i'm a statistic. i'm stuck being a single black parent. they took something from me. and now i'm by myself taking care of four children. i'm being forced to do it by myself. this was not a choice. they forced this on me. by taking my husband away.

nothing will ever get that back. it's another black family being broken. >> reporter: justice in this case has yet to be decided. and once again america is left to struggle between heartache and history. and the same familiar question, why did it have to end this way? coming up, revisiting an historical uprising. our painful past may help us to understand today's racial reckoning. polo! marco...! polo! sì? marco...! polo! scusa? marco...! polo! ma io sono marco polo, ma playing "marco polo" with marco polo? surprising. ragazzini, io sono marco polo. sì, sono qui what's not surprising? geico helping you save even more on car and motorcycle insurance.

ahhh... polo. marco...! polo! now get an extra 15% credit when you switch before october 7th. instead of using aloe, or baby wipes, or powders. try the cooling, soothing relief of preparation h. because your derriere deserves expert care. try new soothing relief. i don't have to worry about that, do i?are irritated. harmful bacteria lurk just below the gum line. crest gum detoxify, voted product of the year. it works below the gum line to neutralize harmful plaque bacteria and help reverse early gum damage. gum detoxify, from crest. i but what i do count on...ts anis boost high protein...rs, and now, there's boost mobility... ...with key nutrients to help support... joints, muscles, and bones. try boost mobility, with added collagen. killer attitude. nevor hydration.... neutrogena® hydro boost. the #1 hyaluronic acid moisturizer

delivers 2x the hydration for supple, bouncy skin. neutrogena®. and then there's moving with move free ultra. it has triple action support for your joints cartilage and bones. and unlike big glucosamine chondroitin pills, it's all in one tiny pill. try move free ulta now. feel the difference. ♪ so we collaborate ♪ ocean spray works with nature every day to farm in a sustainable way ocean spray works with nature every day try nature's bounty hair, skin and nails gummies. the number one brand to support silky hair,

glowing skin, and healthy nails. beauty comes naturally, only from nature's bounty.

it's always gooder what you'to have 'em.or, and when it comes to your internet, xfinity gives you the ones you need. on a budget? there's a speed for that.

not ready to commit? try a plan with no annual contract. wanna save even more? just add xfinity mobile, and save big on your wireless bill. it's internet with the power of options. and that's simple, easy, awesome. get started with xfinity internet and mobile for just $30 a month each, and save up to $400 a year on your wireless bill. call or visit xfinity.com/savebig. ♪ ♪ we've always put safety first. ♪ ♪ and we always will. ♪ ♪ for people. ♪ ♪ for the future. and there has never been a summer when it's mattered more. get zero percent apr financing wherever you go, summer safe for up to five years on select models and exclusive lease offers.

♪ before america burned as protesters demanded justice for george floyd, there were the l.a. riots. examined in the documentary told by those who lived through that chapter of this country's history.

a black man being beaten by officers caught on tape. people taking their frustration and anger to the streets. others taking advantage of the chaos. while some passionately for peace. >> we can all get along. >> reporter: this was 28 years ago, los angeles, after four police officers who beat rodney king were acquitted. no one can forget how the city erupted in unrest. >> no justice, no peace! >> reporter: after the killing of george floyd, some felt they had seen this explosion of pain before. >> no justice! >> no peace! >> reporter: that history may be repeati repeating itself. >> we can look at a series of

riots since the end of the civil war are regard to african-americans. what we'll see in all of these cases, we'll see that african-americans have been pushed beyond the brink because someone has harmed many, many people in the community and there have not consequences. >> reporter: this historian says what today's generation is coping with is unfortunately nothing new. >> we all grew up knowing this could happen at any moment. and it doesn't matter where you live or what you do. >> reporter: she had just moved to los angeles with her husband from virginia, right before the los angeles riots. >> i was on campus, and i student came up to me and said, did you hear the verdict? i had just finished lecturing.

she said, not guilty. and i said to her, you should go home. because there is going to be trouble. >> reporter: hours later, los angeles was engulfed in flames. leading to five days of unrest, rioting, fires, and chaos. and more than 60 dead. korean-owned stores broken into and robbed. drivers dragged out of their vehicles and beaten. but the rodney king riots were not just about rodney king. months earlier, a korean grocer shot and killed a black woman, and there was no prison time. >> the message is that a black life is not worth very much. >> reporter: in the absence of lapd officers, ordered to step back, people like donald jones stepped in. >> i feel like as a black man, i always have to prove myself and

go one step further. it doesn't matter what situation i'm in, i always have to do something extra to prove i'm a law-abiding citizen, a patriot of this country. >> reporter: jones is one of several key features in this documentary. >> in the early '80s, a street gang started to connect with drug dealers. >> we are determined to take back the streets of los angeles. >> operation hammer was a free ticket to go out and do overly aggressive police work. >> reporter: "let it fall" unravels a decade of disconnection that eventually exploded in 1992. >> the problem was, there were not people getting together and saying, this city, our issues, all the things affecting us are not being addressed. >> reporter: i spoke with ridley

about his film in 2017. on the 25th anniversary of the riots. many people will see "let it fall," and they'll see ferguson, baltimore. >> they may see cincinnati, other places where there have been uprisings and riots. we very intentionally did not try to add a coda that drew a line to other situations. l.a. is not baltimore and cincinnati. in all these encounters, they deserve their own singular examination. >> reporter: these days, many of us are focused on that sort of re-examination of the past. 28 years ago, i was a young reporter sent to cover the l.a. riots. can this part of l.a. be restored, race relations

improved? over the years, i find myself in places like ferguson. like my hometown of baltimore. how is the family holding up? just last week in houston, asking the same questions. we're all brothers here. and we've all seen videotape of brothers dying in the hands of police. but now, as the country enters a third week of protests, there seems to be cautious optimism that the country is moving forward in a positive direction. >> we're finally getting our voices heard. i can tell, i can feel that change is happening. >> reporter: perhaps in the future, we'll be having different conversations. >> i hope that we can say we had such a horrific problem with race in 2020. and a movement began that caught fire around the world.

we finally realized that we had to stop and make some deep, deep, deep changes. and we stumbled a lot in trying to get it done. but now, most of that work is done. you can watch an encore presentation of the documentary "let it fall" tomorrow, 8:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m. central, on abc. up next, the landmark lgbtq supreme court decision. [cymbals clanging] [knocking] room for seven. and much, much more. the first-ever glb. get 0% apr financing up to 36 months on most models, and 90-day first-payment deferral on any model.

try nature's bounty hair, skin and nails gummies. the number one brand to support silky hair, glowing skin, and healthy nails. beauty comes naturally, only from nature's bounty. a breakthrough 10 years in the makingveclear, that reduces allergens in cat hair and dander. outstanding nutrition with the power to change lives. this is purina pro plan liveclear. and your health is key to that. centrum supports your body with vitamin c and zinc to help maintain your immune system today and into the new tomorrow. centrum. yes. neutrogena® ultra sheer. superior protection helps prevent early skin aging and skin cancer with a clean feel. it's the one. the best for your skin. ultra sheer. neutrogena®.

if there was one immediate when we closed in march,wynn it was keeping all 15,000 team-members on board with full pay and free testing for all. we then focused our five-star level of service to all who needed it

and did what we always do. we cared about everything and everyone. in our communities and in our homes, we were there. with food and supplies and with love. we made improvements to people's lives. we strove to be better. and we made people happy. like we always do. this closure may have temporarily taken us out of wynn and encore. but it couldn't take the wynn and encore out of us. and now... we are proud to welcome you back.

♪ and finally tonight, workers' rights for all. in a sweeping landmark decision, the conservative leaning supreme court today protecting members of the gay and transgender community in the workplace. banning them from being fired for their sexual orientation. two conservative judges joining

their liberal collegagues, 6-3. we will have more on this ruling tomorrow night on our broadcast. that's all for this evening. thank you for the company, america. good night. ♪ ♪ jimmy kimmel live ♪ >> jimmy: hi. i am jimmy. welcome to my home, my workplace, my gym, my restaurant, my little pony. whatever you need, we have it all. we are now in the fourth month

of quarantine, which is crazy. but life is slowly coming back. we're opening things up for better or worse here in california. on friday in l.a., they opened museums and gyms. which makes no sense to me. first of all, who needs to go to a museum? if i don't see a woolly mammoth statue stuck in sludge, am i gonna go nuts? and secondly, who would go to the gym right now? i'm not going to the gym during a pandemic. or after a pandemic. i'm just not going to the gym ever again. donald trump had quite a weekend. he put on a bigly presentation at west point on saturday, where he showed up to give a commencement speech whether the graduates wanted it or not. the cadets at west point were sent home in march because of the virus. for safety reasons. but then trump decided he wanted to give a speech in person and so all the cadets were ordered to return to campus and stay in quarantine for two weeks. they were literally a captive