An African American man, another who died after being beaten by police, five black officers charged with second-degree murder, and fears that a community’s justified outrage would spill over into violence, as seen after the death by George Floyd From Minneapolis to Washington, American cities have been torched by riots.
“As the Justice Department conducts its investigation, I urge the family to join a call for peaceful protests. Outrage is understandable, but violence is unacceptable. Violence is destructive and against the law. There is no place for violence in peaceful protests demanding justice,” was the appeal from Joe Biden, expressing closeness to the family of Tire Nichols, the 29-year-old who died three days after being stopped in Memphis. A pre-emptive invitation from the President in anticipation of tomorrow’s release of the agents’ bodycam video which, according to the victim’s family who saw it over the past few days, contains shocking images.
Nichols was pulled over for “reckless driving” on January 7, according to police, and died in hospital three days later. On January 20, five officers, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith, also of African American origin, were fired and an investigation launched. But it was only after analyzing the video of the detention that it became clear that Nichols died as a result of the beatings he suffered with ruthless cruelty.
“Tire was beaten like a human pot,” said Nichols attorney Ben Crump, noting that “no parent should ever see ‘those’ horrifying pictures.” The 29-year-old was beaten “continuously for three minutes.” , “while he was completely helpless.” He then developed “difficulty breathing” and was taken to the hospital, where he probably died of a hemorrhage.
The officers were charged with second-degree murder, assault and kidnapping. “Passionate about skateboarding, sunsets and photography,” Tire leaves behind a 4-year-old son.
It is the second episode of police violence against a black man this year: on January 3, teacher Keenan Anderson, cousin of the founder of “Black Lives Matter” Patrisse Cullors, died in Los Angeles of cardiac arrest after being treated with tasers had been suffocated. His last words to the police officer who was elbowing him on his neck were: “You will kill me like George Floyd”. In this case, too, the tragedy began with a banal arrest. On the other hand, according to statistics from black rights organizations, 10% of homicides of black men by American police begin with a stop for an accident or traffic violation, while in general an black man is twice as likely and half more than a white man to be being killed by agents.
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