The Killing of Tyre Nichols Reaffirms the Urgent Need for Police Accountability

Jay SchweikertThe brutal death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis police officers is one of the most egregious examples of police misconduct in living memory. On January 7th, officers stopped Nichols, a 29 ‐​year‐​old Black man, for alleged “reckless driving” (though Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis has since acknowledged that they’ve been “unable to substantiate” probable cause even for this initial stop).Body camera footage reveals that the officers pulled Nichols out of the car, pushed him to the ground, threatened him, yelled expletives andconflicting commands, and used pepper spray and a taser on him. Nichols managed to escape, but officers caught up with him a few minutes later, where theyproceeded to beat him for several minutes, striking him at least nine times with batons, kicks, and punches to the face, even though Nichols never struck back. Nichols was hospitalized in critical condition, and he died three days later.There seems to be no serious dispute that the shocking level of violence deployed against Tyre Nichols was patently unjustified. Chief Davis herself denounced the beating as “heinous, reckless, and inhumane, ” and the five officers directly involvedhave been charged with second ‐​degree murder and other crimes. But while this instance of police brutality may be especially extreme, it is far from an anomaly or outlier. Rather, it’s the predictable consequence of a culture of near ‐​zero accountab...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs