The American city of Memphis was preparing this Friday, January 27 for demonstrations in reaction to the publication, expected at the end of the day, of a video “appalling” showing the fatal beating of Tire Nichols, an African American, by five black police officers.
In a sign the case is potentially explosive, President Joe Biden has called for rallies to be “peaceful”and the highest officials have condemned this tragedy in the strongest terms.
Because the death of Tire Nichols recalls that of the African-American George Floyd, killed by a police officer in May 2020. Demonstrations against racism and police violence then set the country ablaze, united around the slogan “Black Lives Matter” ( Black Lives Matter).
“When my husband and I arrived at the hospital and I saw my son, he was already dead. They had reduced him to mush. He had bruises all over, his head was swollen like a watermelon.”, told in tears RowVaughn Wells, the mother of Tyre Nichols, in an interview aired Friday by the CNN channel. She told the press that she had not seen the images of the beating, adding that she had been told that they were “really awful”.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis has warned that the video showing the man being stopped for a simple traffic violation was “comparable, or even worse” to that showing the violent police arrest of Rodney King in 1991. The acquittal, a year later, of the four police officers involved, triggered unprecedented riots in Los Angeles.
” Mom. Mom ! »
One of the family’s lawyers, Ben Crump, gave some details on Friday. Tire Nichols “calls his mother three times. Her last words on this earth are “Mom. Mom. Mom !” »he launched alongside RowVaughn Wells, who lowered his head in emotion.
Memphis police chief says video will be released “via a YouTube link so that it is accessible to all” at the end of the afternoon. “The video is divided into four different sequences […] Control [routier] initial, the one near Tire’s house and the portable camera of several people on the spot “she clarified.
American police: the culture of violence
The five police officers, who were fired, are themselves African Americans.
In the streets of downtown Memphis, police patrolled Friday on horseback. While in other cities of the country also the police were preparing for possible overflows, the family of Tire Nichols called for calm with insistence.
“We don’t want any type of unrest. We want peaceful protests”said her stepfather, Rodney Wells. “Please, please demonstrate, but demonstrate safely”.
“All Violence”
On January 7, police wanted to check Tire Nichols for a traffic violation. A “confrontation took place” with officers and “the suspect fled”, according to law enforcement. Caught up, Tire Nichols was arrested in circumstances that the authorities have so far avoided describing precisely. The precise sequence of events and their duration remain sources of questions.
Complaining of having difficulty breathing, hospitalized, Tire Nichols died three days later.
The five police officers were charged with murder and imprisoned. Four of them were later released on bail.
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“In a word, it is absolutely appalling”, said about the video David Rausch, the director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which investigated the arrest. FBI Director Christopher Wray told him “horrified”and Justice Minister Merrick Garland said a federal investigation had been opened.
While expressing their horror, the lawyers of the family as well as the parents of the young man wanted to greet the “speed” measures taken against the police. His stepfather notably said that the family was “very satisfied” charges.
The Reverend Al Sharpton, a famous figure in the civil rights struggle, said that “the fact that these agents [de police] are black makes the event even more shocking”. “These agents should not be allowed to hide their actions behind the fact that they are black. We are against all police brutality, not just police brutality by white people”he said.
