FEB 2023. Blues Vol 39 No. 2

AROUND THE COUNTRY yrs.

AROUND THE COUNTRY yrs. THUGS, NOT COPS Five former Memphis police officers charged with the murder of Tyre Nichols. FROM OUR PUBLISHER, MICHAEL BARRON Thugs. That is exactly what the five Memphis officer acted like when they beat and ultimately killed Tyre Nichols. If they weren’t wearing uniforms, you’d swear you were looking at a street gang beating up an innocent man just driving through their neighborhood. Memphis Police Director Cerelyn Davis described the officers’ actions as “heinous, reckless and inhumane,” and said that her department has been unable to substantiate the reckless driving allegation that prompted the stop. Regardless of why they stopped Nichols, there was NO justification to pull him out of the vehicle and start beating him. Now some will say, he must have shot at them, or tried to run over one of them, or did something to threaten their lives. NOPE. According to the body cam videos and street surveillance video, they just pulled him out and the beat down was on. After watching these horrendous videos, I know there are 800,000 cops who’d like to have five minutes alone with each and every one of these asshole former cops. Beat their ass like they beat Nichols. What they did was wrong and there’s evidence to prove it. Of course, each deserves their day in court, and they are innocent until proven guilty. But personally, I hope they end up in GenPop and get their assess beaten every single day. On behalf of every good and decent cop in America, I apologize to the family of Tyre Nichols for what these five animals did to your son. There is no excuse for anyone to treat your son this way, much less five cops sworn to uphold the law and protect the innocent. And I applaud you for asking for peace not more violence in our cities and towns, as that’s not what your son was all about. FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, ADRIAN SAINZ MEMPHIS, TN. — Memphis authorities released more than an hour of footage of the beating of Tyre Nichols in which officers held the motorist down and struck him repeatedly as he screamed for his mother. The video emerged one day after the officers were charged with murder in Nichols’ death. The footage shows police beating the 29-year-old FedEx worker for three minutes while screaming profanities at him throughout the attack. The Nichols family legal team has likened the assault to the infamous 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King. “I’m going to baton the (expletive) out you,” one officer can be heard saying. His body camera shows him raise his baton while at least one other officer holds Nichols. After the first officer roughly pulls Nichols out of his car, Nichols can be heard saying, “I didn’t do anything,” as a group of officers begins to wrestle him to the ground. “Get on the ground!,” one officer yells, as another is heard yelling “Tase him! Tase him!” Nichols calmly replied soon after being wrestled to the pavement, “OK, I’m on the ground.” Moments later, as the officers continue to yell, Nichols says, “Man, I am on the ground.” An officer yells, “Put your hands behind your back before I break your (expletive).” Moments later, an officer yells, “(Expletive), put your hands behind your back before I break them.” “You guys are really doing a lot right now,” Nichols says loudly to the officers. “I’m just trying to go home.” “Stop, I’m not doing anything” he yells moment later. The camera is briefly obscured and then Nichols can be seen running as an officer fires a Taser at him. The officers then start chasing Nichols. After the beating, officers milled about for several minutes while Nichols lay propped up against the car, then slumped onto the street. As cities across the country braced for large demonstrations, Nichols’ relatives urged supporters to protest peacefully. “This young man, by definition of the law in this state, was terrorized. Not by one, not by two, but by five officers who we now know ... acted in concert with each other,” said attorney Antonio Romanucci, who represents Nichols’ family. The officers “acted together ... to inflict harm, terrorism, oppression of liberty, oppression of constitutional rights, which led to murder,” Romanucci said. Memphis Police Director Cerelyn Davis described the officers’ actions as “heinous, reckless and inhumane,” and said that her department has been unable to substantiate the reckless driving allegation that prompted the stop. She told The Associated Press in an interview that there is no video of the traffic stop that shows Nichols recklessly driving. During the initial stop, the video shows the officers were “already ramped up, at about a 10,” she said. The officers were “aggressive, loud, using profane language and probably scared Mr. Nichols from the very beginning.” “We know something happened prior to this officer or 18 The BLUES The BLUES 19