“This Is Us” Actor Niles Fitch Breaks Silence On Death Of Cousin Rayshard Brooks

One of the stars of the NBC hit show This is Us is speaking out for the first time on the death of his cousin Rayshard Brooks, who was murdered by Atlanta police in a Wendy’s parking lot back in June.

Niles Fitch shared how learned about the death of his family member in an interview with The Mix.

“I’m from Atlanta and I haven’t said anything publicly but my cousin was Rayshard Brooks,” Fitch said. “I remember watching the video and I couldn’t see who it is or anything and I remember being like damn that’s crazy and I was a little numb to it and I kept it moving.”

Fitch, who plays Randall Pearson as a teenager on the hit NBC drama, said his mother called him later in the day to tell him the victim in the video was his own cousin.

“It really set on me how bad it has been and how desensitized we are,” the 19-year-old actor said. “It was a tough time but we got through it, you have to get through it. That is the only thing you can do.”

Also during the new interview, Fitch spoke out against the protests in Los Angeles.

“The LA protests became a show, for me personally,” he said. “A bunch of influencers that I know, that be at parties… saying the n-word, treating black people bad, girls that fetishize Black men now being like ‘Black Lives Matter.’ It really took the spirit of ‘I’m protesting’ out of it.'”

But he also added, “They were still getting the message out there, whether they had true intentions or not.”

Brooks’ death was ruled a homicide. The officer who shot him was fired and charged with murder and aggravated assault, along with other charges. The officer is also trying to sue the city over the firing.