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Protests: Crowds across the US decry police brutality

Protests: Crowds across the US decry police brutality
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A portrait of Tyre Nichols is displayed at a memorial service for him on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023 in Memphis, Tenn. Nichols was killed during a traffic stop with Memphis Police on Jan. 7.  (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)

What role does race play in policing? Researcher explains

06:00 – Source: CNN

Editor’s Note: This article contains graphic videos and descriptions of violence.

CNN  — 

Protesters once again took to the streets to decry police brutality over the weekend after the release of video depicting the violent Memphis police beating that led to the death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols.

Demonstrators marched through New York City, Atlanta, Boston, Baltimore, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland, among other cities across the nation on Saturday, raising signs bearing his name and calling for an end to abuses of authority.

In Memphis, at a makeshift memorial near the corner where Nichols was beaten, resident Kiara Hill expressed her disappointment and said the neighborhood was quiet and family-oriented.

“To see the events unfold how they’ve unfolded, with this Tyre Nichols situation, is heartbreaking. I have a son,” Hill told CNN. “And Tyre, out of the officers on the scene, he was the calmest.”

Nichols could be heard yelling for his mother in the video of the January 7 encounter, which begins with a traffic stop and goes on to show officers repeatedly beating the young Black man with batons, punching him and kicking him – including at one point while his hands are restrained behind his back.

He was then left slumped to the ground in handcuffs, with 23 minutes passing before a stretcher arrives at the scene. Nichols was eventually hospitalized and died three days later.

Since then, the backlash has been relatively swift. The five Memphis officers involved in the beating – who are also Black – were fired and charged in Nichols’ death. The unit they were part of was disbanded, and state lawmakers representing the Memphis area began planning police reform bills.

Nichols’ family attorney Ben Crump said that the quick firing and arrests of the police officers and release of video should be a “blueprint” for how police brutality allegations should be handled going forward. He applauded Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis for arresting and charging the officers within 20 days.

“When you see police officers commit crimes against citizens, then we want you to act just as swiftly and show as the chief said, the community needs to see it, but we need to see it too when it’s white police officers,” Crump said.

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In this still from video released by the City of Memphis, officers from the Memphis Police Department beat Tyre Nichols on a street corner.

These are the moments that led to Tyre Nichols’ death

08:51 – Source: CNN

The five former Memphis police officers involved in the arrest have been charged with second-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping, among other charges, according to the Shelby County district attorney.

The officers, identified as Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills Jr., are expected to be arraigned February 17.

The attorney for one of the officers indicted, Mills Jr., put out a statement Friday night saying that he didn’t cross lines “that others crossed” during the confrontation.

All five officers were members of the now-scrapped SCORPION unit, Memphis police spokesperson Maj. Karen Rudolph told CNN on Saturday. The unit, launched in 2021, put officers into areas where police were tracking upticks in violent crime.

Memphis police announced Saturday that it will disband the unit, saying that “it is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate the SCORPION Unit.”

But disbanding the unit without giving officers new training would be “putting lipstick on a pig,” city council chair Martavius Jones told CNN Saturday.

Memphis city councilmember Patrice Robinson also told CNN disbanding the unit does not go far enough in addressing issues within the agency.

“We have to fight the bad players in our community, and now we’ve got to fight our own police officers. That is deplorable,” Robinson said. “We’re going to have to do something.”

The fallout from the deadly encounter also stretched to other agencies involved.

Two Memphis Fire Department employees who were part of Nichols’ initial care were relieved of duty, pending the outcome of an internal investigation. And two deputies with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office have been put on leave pending an investigation.

Atlanta police officers watch as protesters march during a rally against the fatal Memphis police assault of Tyre Nichols, in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 28, 2023.

A pair of Democratic state lawmakers said Saturday that they intend to file police reform legislation ahead of the Tennessee General Assembly’s Tuesday filing deadline.

The bills will seek to address mental health care for law enforcement officers, hiring, training, discipline practices and other topics, said Rep. G.A. Hardaway, who represents a portion of Memphis and Shelby County.

Rep. Joe Towns Jr., who also represents a portion of Memphis, said legislation could pass through the state house as early as April or May.

While Democrats hold the minority with 24 representatives compared to the Republican majority of 99 representatives, Towns said this legislation is not partisan and should pass on both sides of the legislature.

“You would be hard-pressed to look at this footage (of Tyre Nichols) and see what happened to that young man, OK, and not want to do something. If a dog in this county was beaten like that, what the hell would happen?” Towns said.

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John Miller bodycams orig thumb

‘There is no OK here’: Ex-NYPD official reacts to Memphis footage

02:25 – Source: CNN

By the time she saw her son, badly bruised and swollen in his hospital bed, Nichols’ mother says she knew he wasn’t going to make it.

“When I saw that, I knew my son was gone, the end,” RowVaughn Wells told CNN.

Through tears, the mother said the officers charged with her son’s death “brought shame to their own families. They brought shame to the Black community.”

“I don’t have my baby. I’ll never have my baby again,” she said. But she takes comfort in knowing her son was a good person, she said.

The 29-year-old was a father and also the baby of his family, the youngest of four children. He was a “good boy” who spent his Sundays doing laundry and getting ready for the week, his mother said.

Nichols loved being a father to his 4-year-old son, said his family.

“Everything he was trying to do was to better himself as a father for his 4-year-old son,” Crump said at the family’s news conference.

“He always said he was going to be famous one day. I didn’t know this is what he meant,” Wells said Friday.

A verified GoFundMe campaign started in memory of Tyre Nichols has raised more than $936,000 as of early Sunday morning. The online frundraiser was created by Nichols’ mother and reads in part: “My baby was just trying to make it home to be safe in my arms. Tyre was unarmed, nonthreatening, and respectful to police during the entire encounter!”

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/29/us/tyre-nichols-protests-sunday/index.html