I can't imagine a more human and involuntary reaction than trying to get away from people who are viciously harming you. It pains me every single time cops use it as a pretext for violence, and that's what I kept thinking about last night as I watched the video released by Memphis authorities in the beating death of Tyre Nichols. Click here if you want to see it. Via the Associated Press:
The video is filled with violent moments showing the officers, who are also Black, chasing and pummeling Nichols and leaving him on the pavement propped against a squad car as they fist-bump and celebrate their actions.
The footage emerged one day after the officers were charged with murder in Nichols’ death. The chilling images of another Black man dying at the hands of police renewed tough questions about how fatal encounters with law enforcement continue even after repeated calls for change.
Protesters gathered for mostly peaceful demonstrations in multiple cities, including Memphis, where several dozen demonstrators blocked the Interstate 55 bridge that carries traffic over the Mississippi River toward Arkansas. Semitrucks were backed up for a distance. In Washington, dozens of protestors gathered in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House and near Black Lives Matter Plaza.
There is one point where Nichols cries out, "Mom? Mom!" Because his mother's house was nearby. That's when I lost it.
When I was a reporter, I used to listen to the police scanner in the town where I lived. One night, I heard two cops talking about a drunk driver they stopped. "Let's beat the sh*t out of him," I heard one say, and I heard them get out of the cruiser.
I complained to the police chief the next day, who acted shocked. But I know he wasn't.
We are a nation being held hostage by the same people we pay to protect us. And the insane Supreme Court has made it clear police have no actual duty to protect us. Let that sink in. They didn't have to intervene at Uvalde while children were being shot dead -- or anywhere else. They can't be sued personally, and thanks to their corrupt unions, often they can't even be fired.
I have no idea what we do about that.
But here is how I suggest we remember Tyre Nichols.