James Burns was an Atlanta, GA police officer who was indicted for Murder in 2016 after he
shot and killed Daravis Rogers.

On June 23, 2016, James Burns was on-duty as an Atlanta police officer. He responded to a call for service in which an off-duty officer saw a person breaking into a parked vehicle on an apartment parking lot.

When he arrived at the apartment complex, he saw a person matching the description of the suspect, later identified as Daravis Rogers, enter a vehicle close to the exit of the parking lot. Officer Burns activated his emergency lights and attempted to prevent the Rogers from fleeing in the vehicle.

When Rogers entered his vehicle he immediately drove toward where Officer Burns’ marked police vehicle was positioned with its emergency lights activated. When Officer Burns saw Rogers vehicle being driven toward him, he believed he would be struck by Rogers’ vehicle. Burns stepped out of his police vehicle and took a position to the right-rear of the vehicle. Believing Rogers was intentionally trying to strike him with the vehicle, Burns discharged his firearm once, striking Rogers. Rogers died from his injuries.

Officer Burns was subsequently charged with Murder by the Fulton County District Attorney. At
the time Paul Howard was the elected DA – that office is now occupied by Fani Willis, the same
prosecutor who brought election interference charges against former president, Donald Trump.
Prosecutors, in violation of Officer Burns’ constitutional rights, obtained the original indictment
by using a statement of Burns that was not given voluntarily, but which was given only after he
was involuntarily compelled to make a statement.

James Burns is married with a 14 year-old son. Before entering the law enforcement profession
he worked for nearly 10 years for various non-governmental humanitarian relief organizations.
This work brought him to places like Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Pakistan. He sees his work in law
enforcement as a logical progression from his humanitarian work.