Police in Memphis, Tennessee, have released video of the controversial arrest of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols. Reports indicate that officers stopped him for reckless driving on the evening of Jan. 7. A confrontation ensued, and Nichols died three days later in a local hospital.
The video shows officers using pepper spray, tasing, clubbing, punching, and kicking Nichols. Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis said the footage was shocking. “I wasn’t prepared for what I saw,” Davis told the local CBS affiliate. “I was horrified, hurt, angered at what I saw.”
Another portion of the video, however, contains a conversation between officers that local and national media seem to ignore. It indicates Nichols had originally tried to assault one of the officers and grab his gun, and that he had tried to ram a squad car with his automobile. None of this scenario was part of the released video.
The Memphis Police Department (MPD) fired five officers involved in the arrest. Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr., and Justin Smith now face multiple charges: second degree murder, official misconduct, official oppression, aggravated assault, and aggravated kidnapping.
Immediately after the video release, Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner placed two of his deputies on leave. He did not realize until seeing the footage that they were involved. He intends to launch an official investigation about what happened and to determine if they violated policies.
Businesses in the downtown area of Memphis are reopening Saturday after closing Friday night in fear of possible riots following the video release. Protesters organized by Black Lives Matter (BLM) walked from Martyr’s Park along the Mississippi River to the Interstate 55 bridge, where they blocked traffic until around 9 p.m. They dispersed about one hour later but vowed to return on Saturday. Nichols’ mother called for protesters to remain peaceful. Local news reported no incidents, but noted the eerie quiet of most of the downtown area, which usually has an active nightlife on weekends.
The Memphis Democratic Socialists of America passed out literature to protesters calling for abolishing the police force. BLM demands that the MPD discontinue the use of unmarked cars and plainclothes officers. They do not want the police conducting traffic enforcement at all.
They also demanded that the MPD crime-fighting unit be dismantled, as several officers involved were part of that special force. Known as Scorpion, which stands for Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods, it is focused on fighting gang-related crime. Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland has temporarily inactivated Scorpion. The police chief told local news that she believes dismantling it would be “premature.”
Tony Romanucci, lawyer for Nichols’ family, accused Scorpion of misconduct and has pulled the race card, though Nichols and the five former MPD officers involved are all black. “Let’s call it what it is,” he told CBS. “It’s a racist traffic stop.”
Prior to the video release, leftist district attorney Steve Mulroy issued a statement explaining that “transparency” was his reason for deciding to release it.
In a second statement issued Friday, Mulroy admitted, “I know the Shelby County community, and the nation, are feeling both the outrage and the deep pain that comes with witnessing these acts of violence.” Why, then, was it necessary to expose the public to something so extreme? “It’s my hope that this tragedy can lead to broader conversation on police reform,” said the district attorney, known for his soft-on-crime stance.
President Biden said he, too, was “outraged and deeply pained” by the “horrific video,” and said that he spoke by phone to Nichols’ parents, expressing his condolences. Then the president chose to exploit the situation for his radical purposes.
“Real and lasting change will only come if we take action to prevent tragedies like this from ever happening again,” he wrote in his Friday statement. “That is why I called on Congress to send the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to my desk. When Senate Republicans blocked that bill, I signed an executive order that mandated stricter use of force standards and accountability provisions for federal law enforcement, as well as measures to strengthen accountability at the state and local level.”
While Biden would obviously prefer to federalize local police forces, “one of the hallmarks of a free society is local law enforcement.” This is according to The John Birch Society’s “Support Your Local Police” action project. Like all government, law enforcement should be accountable to the people it serves, which is best accomplished when it is maintained locally. “Today’s sheriffs are accountable to the voters who elected them, and police chiefs are accountable to those locally elected officials who appointed the chiefs.”
Americans should not allow leftists of the Biden and Mulroy ilk to use tragedies like Tyre Nichols’ death to hand over constitutionally protected local control to the enemies of freedom.
The funeral for Tyre Nichols is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 1. Local news reports that the Reverend Al Sharpton will deliver a eulogy, and civil rights attorney Ben Crump will “deliver a call to action.”
