A Black man who was unarmed and practically defenceless, was beaten by the police with no evidence whatsoever.
What Could Possibly Be The Charges
After about a hundred of cases against black men doing utterly nothing so degrading and dehumanising that they are convicted or straightaway beaten, if not worse, the police system is still lagging minimal empathy and a strong worldview that’s anything but racist.
This case called the attention of even The President, Joe Biden, who has legitimately spoken to the victim’s family and they have come to a conclusion. Nonetheless, it’s a shame that after, specifically, the beating and consequent death of George Floyd and the entirely massive campaign that followed as well as shook the nation, there’s still crimes like these happening.
The victim who goes by the name Tyre Nichols, his encounter with the police in Memphis, Tennessee was also gruesomely recorded in video which was made public on Friday night and is a seething reminder that efforts to reform policing have failed to prevent more clashes like these.
What’s surprising is that, around 30 years ago when Rodney King was savagely beaten by police in Los Angeles, that put out the public to call for an immediate change. However, cases like these have been repeated ever since, proof being the deaths of Amadou Diallo in New York, Oscar Grant in Oakland and particularly the most suffocating of all, the murder in Minneapolis in 2020, of George Floyd.
A Dire Need For Change
The five Black officers that were involved in this crime are now fired and charged with murder of the victim who was merely a 29-year-old skateboarder, FedEx worker and father to a 4-year-old boy, with a bright little future ahead of him. De-escalation training is now required. Officers are told to limit the consistent uses of force, get rid of all alternatives before resorting to deadly force and report all uses of force before getting onto it.
The five officers charged — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith — were part of the so-called Scorpion unit. Scorpion stands for Street Crimes Operations to Restore Peace in our Neighborhoods. What a shame to think such a prestigious sounding unit would do something so saddening and shameful.
The Memphis law enforcement officers gave their condolences to Nichols’ family and said that they are committed to make sure justice is served after such a brutal incident took place. They clearly condemned the mistreatment of citizens of any race, creed or colour and made sure that this doesn’t happen again.
The national president of the Fraternal Order of Police, however, said that policing shouldn’t change at all. This was not “legitimate police work or a traffic stop gone wrong,” Yoes said. “This is a criminal assault under the pretext of law.” Extensive number of protestors showed up on Friday after the city had released the footage. Memphis pastor called the images a solid proof that the city and the nation’s justice system needs an inherent change.
