TRAGEDY IN MEMPHIS
How anybody could even try to justify the killing of Tyre Nichols is beyond my understanding. And if that’s something you would like to argue with me about, please do me a favor and unfriend me now.
Once again, a black man is killed in the street like some kind of animal by the very people who have been tasked with serving and protecting. This was Rodney King in 1991, only this time was even worse as this 29 year old young man didn’t recover from his injuries to share his side of the story.
Once again, I had to hear a grown man calling for his momma in fear. This time while officers took turns literally beating the life out of him. The scary part is that they had body cameras on and still didn’t care to show any restraint.
The officers involved tried telling people that he reached for a gun. The video clearly shows that to not be true. They even tried saying that he was driving reckless which was why he was pulled over. However, city officials have reviewed traffic cameras and have seen no reason for the stop in the first place.
I’m heartbroken for him and for his family that has to try to understand how this could’ve happened to a young man that was simply trying to make it home.
A GLIMMER OF HOPE
The only silver lining in the killing of Tyre Nichols is how Chief of Police CJ Davis and the city of Memphis has handled this situation. BEFORE the video was ever released, these officers had been fired and already indicted by a grand jury on charges of second degree murder. Many times, we have a hard time getting this kind of response even with a video already circulating.
Now, it is not at all lost on me that all of the officers involved are Black. In my mind, it always feels like justice seems to move a bit faster when it comes to putting us in our place. Especially when compared to trying to get indictments for George Floyd, or the amount of years that have gone by trying to get justice for the death of Breonna Taylor.
THE WAY FORWARD
However, what Memphis has done in 20 days is an amazing example of what the process is supposed to look like regardless of where something like this happens in our country. And if they can do it in Tennessee, then they can do it in Minnesota and in any other state that has police officers carrying out executions on camera.
For me, regardless of the skin color of anyone involved, any police officer who does something like this over a traffic stop deserves to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. While that will never be enough to bring Tyre back…it’s a good start.
