How Could They? The Killing of Tyre Nichols

Transformer

Well-Known Member


https://wapo.st/3RluR9z (Gifted Article)


In their mug shots, the five Black officers who were fired from the Memphis police department in the aftermath of Tyre Nichols’s death and who have been charged with second-degree murder, stare flatly into the camera. They’re wearing civilian clothes — hoodies, crewnecks — and no longer have the power that their police uniforms and badges once afforded them. They have lost their weaponized positions of authority. They’re five men, young and brown-skinned, who have been accused of levying a heinous atrocity against another Black man — one they had the audacity to call “bro.”
How could they?
Systemic racism does terrible, dehumanizing things to the souls of those who are caught in its net. And it’s impossible to watch even a few minutes of the video footage captured during Nichols’s arrest and not weep over the cruelty and disregard with which he was treated. The videos from police body cameras and an overhead street camera offer a limited look at what transpired on that night in early January. The public can see that the tragedy begins with the officers exhibiting angry contempt for Nichols as he is pulled from his vehicle while officers hurl curses at him. He is lashed by a barrage of impossible and confusing orders, waves of profanity and verbal threats, and a litany of deadly blows from a baton, fists and feet. By the time the officers step away from Nichols and prop his limp body against a vehicle, they’re panting from their efforts. It’s exhausting work beating another man down, breaking his spirit so that one can stand over him, pounding the life out of an unarmed man and calling it one’s livelihood.

“Sit up, bro,” one officer is heard saying on the videotape. He uses the same term of easy familiarity with Nichols as the cops employ with each other, as if to suggest that the fight was somehow fair, as if Nichols must surely be fine. “Sit up, man,” an officer says, using a word that rings both hollow and cruel. If only these officers had seen him as a man when they were beating him, instead of as some inanimate object, some detritus.
Lawyer for Nichols family says Tyre Nichols was ‘human piñata’ for police

The failures in the country’s police forces cannot be reduced to a matter of race, even as race is fundamental to the way in which people experience both law enforcement and criminal justice. Race helps distinguish whether a person has faith that the police will see them as citizens worthy of respect, will empathize when they call for help and will act when they plead for aid. The police are part of the substructure that helps hold up the country’s social hierarchy, its strict delineation of power and privilege that is stubbornly unyielding to money, education and politics. As the author Isabel Wilkerson noted, America’s caste system “is about the deadly dehumanization of the subordinated caste that allows almost any atrocity to be inflicted upon them — by anyone in any group, including their own, to uphold the caste system and to maintain one’s own place, however marginal, within it.”

History long ago defined Whiteness as an invaluable asset, affording one a foothold on the top rung of the ladder. Just one drop of Blackness was an inescapable burden. The order was set. Over time, the caste system has encouraged colorism. It has caused some Black immigrants, hoping to stay at least one rung from the bottom of the social hierarchy, to carefully distinguish themselves from Black Americans whose ancestors were enslaved. It drives the Black cabbie to pass up the Black man just trying to get a ride home. It helped spawn the old saw about only having to do two things in life: stay Black and die.

Still, it’s hard to look at the five officers accused of causing a mother’s heartbreak and not feel the pain more acutely. The accused killers are Black, just like her son. And if these young Black men can’t see through the scrim of history and race and policing to salvage a shred of empathy, then who can? Perhaps that’s demanding that they carry a community’s burden with them. So be it. Their ancestors carried much more. “It makes it even harder to swallow, because they are Black and they know what we have to go through,” said Nichols’s mother RowVaughn Wells about her son’s killing. “I don’t understand why they had to do this to my son.”

How could they? That’s not a question for the head, but the heart.
To look at those mug shots, to look at the video and to hear the vicious words is to feel a deep sorrow and pain. Why were they so belligerent in the face of Nichols’s calm? How could they fail to notice that he didn’t return their foul-mouth shouting with his own stream of profanity? Why did every command seem to be a further humiliation of a man already on the ground?

The Memphis police officers charged with second-degree murder in the death of Tyre Nichols: clockwise from top left Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin III, Tadarrius Bean and Desmond Mills Jr. (Shelby County Sheriff's Office/via REUTERS.)


Intellectually, one knows that every man is an individual and makes his own choices. And yet, there’s still faith in a Black community. It’s not something defined by a geographic voting block. It doesn’t mean being in lockstep in a political viewpoint that’s liberal or conservative. It’s having access to a communal well of cultural knowledge, history and experience that serves as a common language, a fundamental understanding of what Blackness means in this country. A person is born into that community; they’re steeped in it. It is by no means a preventive to crime and violence, neighbor against neighbor. And people can be exceptionally hard on their own, meting out punishment that feels personal because, perhaps, it is.

But this? In the video, they called him a “boy” when he was a man. They called him a man when they had long ago proved that they barely considered him human.
The cops stood around in the glow of streetlights and flash lights and discussed the havoc they had wrecked on Nichols. Dressed in their uniforms, they checked on each other and showed concern. They were police officers, and they were Black men. Neither had empathy for the community.
 

fluffyforever

Well-Known Member
I am not quick to call everything racism just because a victim is black. There are other horrible reasons tragedies like this occurs besides racism and only pointing out racism doesn’t help and won’t help the community. Sometimes it just looks ridiculous and makes it look like black people think it’s “the man” always behind everything.

Sure there are racist cops. But when it’s a group of black cops attacking a black victim, the first thought people have is that it must be due to systematic racism that causes such black on black crime?… that is not anywhere near my first thoughts and I don’t understand why that is the main conclusion people jump towards.

My first thoughts-
Why are violent men on the police force? This can’t be their first time physically harming someone in a traffic stop. Did they know him personally and are seeking some kind of revenge?
Where the cops on drugs?

I’m not saying systemic racism isn’t real, but at some point people have to be accountable for their own actions and I would think a group of black cops with no white man over their shoulder wouldn’t feel immediate pressure to beat someone to death.
 

Everything Zen

Well-Known Member
I honestly feel like the attack was intentional and was motivated by a personal agenda.

That being said now that the first report completely contradicts the video evidence, and the fact that they did this all while wearing body cameras turned on- like how deranged can you be, I knew it was a stretch that all these people are out here reaching for cop’s guns and now I’ll never believe that line again.
 

Transformer

Well-Known Member
I am not quick to call everything racism just because a victim is black. There are other horrible reasons tragedies like this occurs besides racism and only pointing out racism doesn’t help and won’t help the community. Sometimes it just looks ridiculous and makes it look like black people think it’s “the man” always behind everything.

Sure there are racist cops. But when it’s a group of black cops attacking a black victim, the first thought people have is that it must be due to systematic racism that causes such black on black crime?… that is not anywhere near my first thoughts and I don’t understand why that is the main conclusion people jump towards.

My first thoughts-
Why are violent men on the police force? This can’t be their first time physically harming someone in a traffic stop. Did they know him personally and are seeking some kind of revenge?
Where the cops on drugs?

I’m not saying systemic racism isn’t real, but at some point people have to be accountable for their own actions and I would think a group of black cops with no white man over their shoulder wouldn’t feel immediate pressure to beat someone to death.

I agree that EVERYTHING is not about racism but in this case I feel that this definitely a display of systemic racism. Sure, there are thugs in police departments that just want to beat people but these same 5 men would have NEVER abused/beat/murderd a white man. This is because systemic racism permeated by our society makes folks like those cops feel that Black Lives DON’T Matter and furthermore that their abuse (not the first time) would not have any consequences.

If there is found a single report where these men roughed up a white person I’ll revise my opinion but I doubt one can be found.


A quote from the writer James Baldwin:

“Black policemen were another matter. We used to say, ‘If you must call a policeman,”–for we hardly ever did–“for God’s sake, try to make sure it’s a White one.” A black policeman could completely demolish you. He knew far more about you than a White policeman could and you were without defenses before this Black brother in uniform whose entire reason for breathing seemed to be his hope to offer proof that, though he was Black, he was not Black like you.”

– James Baldwin
 
Last edited:

Black Ambrosia

Well-Known Member
I was in a meeting early this week for a non profit that involves a number of black greek letter organizations and a few people expressed sadness about something that happened with the fraternity but I was clueless. They didn’t talk about it during the meeting but I figured it out after seeing this stuff on social media.

1675385928141.png
 

dancinstallion

Well-Known Member
Rumor has it the victim was intimate with one of the cop's baby mama. They claim the cop sent pictures of the victim to his baby mama. I believe the rumor.
I wonder if it is the same cop that was punching him in the face.


 

Black Ambrosia

Well-Known Member
I heard something similar. So was the woman his wife or ex-gf? Either way it's a shame that, if true, anyone would let their jealousy cause them to take a life and lose their freedom and livelihood. He won't be able to have the relationship that seems to have meant a lot to him.
 

Everything Zen

Well-Known Member


How an unproven rumour about Tyre Nichols fits a larger victim-blaming pattern


Tyre Nichols's stepfather has denied an unproven rumour that his son was having an affair with the ex-wife of one of the police officers charged with his murder.


Mr Nichols died three days after a violent encounter with police in Memphis, when officers kicked and punched him after a traffic stop.


But experts say the growing volume of online chatter fits a larger pattern of speculation, rumour and completely false allegations directed towards victims of police brutality in the US.


In Mr Nichols's case, a variety of activists and online accounts with varying motivations spread the rumour without any evidence.


The allegation swiftly moved from fringe accounts to a level where Mr Nichols's family and leading civil rights figures felt they needed to address it directly.


How did it start?


Social media chatter began at a low level on Friday. BBC reporters in Memphis heard similar rumours at about the same time, and chatter on far-right and "alt-tech" networks began later, indicating it's likely that the rumour began in the local community rather than online.


Once a number of TikTok and YouTube videos and tweets addressed the subject, however, a mix of people began circulating it.


The whispers grew steadily louder over the weekend, to the point where Mr Nichols's stepfather, Rodney Wells, denied them in front of a crowd at a prayer vigil on Monday night.


"The police tried to cover it up. They [are] still trying to spread rumours about my son that are not true," Mr Wells said, according to local news reports. "My son was not messing around with one of the officer's wives. That's just a rumour."


No evidence has emerged that police were involved in spreading the rumour.


Although some commentators have described the vicious attack as unusually personal, nothing in the bodycam videos released by Memphis authorities indicated that the officers knew Mr Nichols or specifically sought him out before they stopped him.


The Reverend Al Sharpton dismissively mentioned the allegation when delivering the eulogy for Mr Nichols on Wednesday. "Nobody mentioned nothing about no girlfriend… they started beating an unarmed man," he said.


Fact checks by news organisations and Snopes, which tracks conspiracy theories and online falsehoods, laid out what's known and unknown - but had difficulty pinpointing the original source of the story.


The BBC contacted several of the most popular Twitter accounts spreading the rumour, and none could provide evidence or say where the claim originated.


Why have people spread it?


Those spreading the unproven rumour had a variety of perspectives and possible motives. Some condemned the gossip or made the point that a personal dispute does not justify violence.


Several others, including activists and influencers broadly aligned with the Black Lives Matter movement, argued that any evidence of a personal motivation would justify upgrading the criminal charges against the police officers to first-degree - or premeditated - murder.


Five officers are currently charged with second-degree murder, which does not require intentional planning. In Tennessee, first-degree murder is punishable by the death penalty while second-degree murder is punishable by up to 15 to 60 years in prison.


None of the officers have offered a plea, but lawyers for two of them earlier said they would contest the charges.


As is often seen around high-profile news events, others spread the rumour believing they were being helpful by passing along information. Others were attempting to increase their clout and online followings.


More Tyre Nichols coverage:


Who was Tyre Nichols?


What the footage of police beating shows


Lawyer urges Congress to pass urgent police reforms


Why do so many police traffic stops turn deadly?


There are deeper motivations for sharing rumours, too.


"It's an attempt by some people online to rationalise why something like this would happen," Snopes reporter Nur Ibrahim said.


Another influential group of people used the rumour to distract from larger debates and claimed that it rendered discussions of police brutality and racism irrelevant.


The profiles of several of the people making this argument indicated that they supported conservative or far-right causes.


Katherine Keneally, senior research director at the Institute of Strategic Dialogue, a counter-extremism think tank, said politically motivated "bad faith actors" are well-versed in distraction techniques.


"They're using this to try to detract from the larger problem which is police brutality and the horrible scenes in the video," she said. "They will bite at any sort of rumour that they can use to advance their agenda."


A well-established pattern


Several high-profile victims of police violence in recent years have been the subject of unproven or false rumours intended to deflect from larger social issues.


Sometimes the rumours start with grains of truth. For instance, following the murder of George Floyd, several online influencers focused on his criminal record or accused news outlets of "covering up" his history.


In reality, Mr Floyd's record was well-reported, as was his involvement in religion and anti-violence causes after his release from prison.


After the shooting death of Breonna Taylor by police in Louisville, Kentucky in 2020, online partisans played up her involvement in criminal activity.


"Those rumours were mostly false," Ms Ibrahim said. "They took a little bit of true information and expanded and exaggerated it to the point where it became mostly false."


Ms Kennelly said the release of video footage has caused far-right and pro-police activists to scramble for a coherent story with which to push back.


Other posts by some of the same people are based on facts rather than speculation - for instance highlighting that the five officers initially charged are black and that Memphis is run by Democratic Party politicians.


The intent, however, is the same. "[It's] an effort to distract from the larger problem which is police brutality and the horrible scenes in the video," Ms Kennelly said.


"That's why we've seen so many narratives over the past five days," she said. "They are trying to get one that sticks, because it's very difficult to argue that this is something other than police brutality."


Far from harmless gossip, Ms Kennelly said the rumours have a larger, negative, impact on public debate and called for more work by social media companies to stop the spread of misleading narratives.


"Harmful misinformation and disinformation can actually have an impact on the family, the case and future efforts to combat police brutality."
 

Crackers Phinn

Either A Blessing Or A Lesson.
I had always been a proponent of more black cops but if they can't be trusted to not hurt and kill black people too then black folks are just doomed.

Two or three of those cops are college/HBCU educated and BGLO members. One of the cops Tadarrius Bean had been in trouble for beating the pooh out of Omega Psi Phi pledges. He was the president of the chapter. That wasn't white supremacy, systematic racism or being a copy, this fool just had a taste for putting hands and feet on n's as did his cohorts who all got some form violence in their background.

The more I learn about ALL of these dudes including Tyre Nichols the more irritated I get and double :censored: Jason Whitlock for blaming black single mothers for these :censored: and their :censored:.

Let me leave you with some closing thoughts from the dead niglet and I mean it as disrespectfully as possible.

 

dancinstallion

Well-Known Member
Rumor has it the victim was intimate with one of the cop's baby mama. They claim the cop sent pictures of the victim to his baby mama. I believe the rumor.
I wonder if it is the same cop that was punching him in the face.



CNN is reporting that the cop did send pics of the victim to at least 5 people. I knew they knew eachother.

Someone posted this
Screenshot_20230208-033545_Chrome.jpg
 

Peppermynt

Defying Gravity
Honestly I suspect the dude sending pics was being an :censored: - I don't necessarily think the cop knew Tyre, just that he was capturing the picture for misguided bragging rights (kind of like some of the first responders did with the Kobe crash). Unless there's something that says they positively knew one another ...
 

nysister

Well-Known Member
I had always been a proponent of more black cops but if they can't be trusted to not hurt and kill black people too then black folks are just doomed.

Two or three of those cops are college/HBCU educated and BGLO members. One of the cops Tadarrius Bean had been in trouble for beating the pooh out of Omega Psi Phi pledges. He was the president of the chapter. That wasn't white supremacy, systematic racism or being a copy, this fool just had a taste for putting hands and feet on n's as did his cohorts who all got some form violence in their background.

The more I learn about ALL of these dudes including Tyre Nichols the more irritated I get and double :censored: Jason Whitlock for blaming black single mothers for these :censored: and their :censored:.

Let me leave you with some closing thoughts from the dead niglet and I mean it as disrespectfully as possible.

Not even surprised about the said "niglet". I don't see most Black men as people to support, I don't even see Black women that want to be or stay in the gutter as people to support.

If you're someone who is doing something with yourself or working on doing something with yourself, I support you. The rest really aren't my problem or business.
 
Top