Tyree Nichols is the latest black man to be killed by excessive force

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Tyree Nichols was 29 years old. He was less than 100 yards from his mother’s home when he was stopped by Memphis police, pulled from his car, gasping as he screamed, “What have I done?” A videotape of the brutal beating of I Tire shows him handcuffed to the ground, 5 cops hitting him in the head, kicking him and dragging his limp, badly injured body as he complies. The tapes reveal Pokeys officers and paramedics laughing, not administering first aid to Tyre. Claims of reckless driving and an officer’s complaint that Tyer tried to grab his gun were not substantiated. The fact that the police officers were all black demonstrates that apart from racism, there is a systemic problem with the right of law enforcement to use excessive force at will.

Democrats support legislation to reform police. Republicans oppose it. The House passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in February 2021, but Senate Republicans did not support it. Law enforcement generally tends to favor conservatism, so Republicans side with the police against public accusations of corruption and brutality. The GOP meekly opposes police killing blacks during traffic stops, while they mock brutal cops defending the Capitol against rioters. Memphis officials are putting aside party affiliation, declaring “enough is enough” and calling for police reform legislation.

Is another preventable death of a young black man caused by excessive police force finally going to bring about reform? A major obstacle: the majority of law enforcement professionals are conservative and the current Republican Party is plagued by racism and toxic masculinity. The epidemic of extra-force killings of blacks is a stain on America’s global image. MAGA members of Congress like Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis and Marjorie Taylor Green are on a mission to revive Jim Crow era racism. However, there is anger among all political parties over youths being killed during routine traffic stops by angry, concerned police officers.

The George Floyd Act for Justice in Policing must be passed.
  • July 17, 2014, Eric Garner: Eric Garner died after being wrestled to the ground by a New York police officer suspected of illegally selling cigarettes.
  • August 9, 2014, Michael Brown: Michael Brown, 18, was killed in Ferguson, Missouri by a police officer who was responding to a report that Brown had stolen a box of cigars.
  • 22 November 2014: Tamir Rice: Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy, was shot and killed by a police officer in Cleveland, Ohio after a man “possibly a teenager” pointed a gun that was “probably fake” at pedestrians. .
  • Walter Scott was shot five times in the back by a white police officer, who was later fired and eventually sentenced to 20 years in prison.
  • The death of Alton Sterling sparked days of protests in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Mr. Sterling was killed after police responded to reports of a disturbance outside a store.
  • 6 July 2016: Philando Castile: Philando Castile was killed while driving with his girlfriend in St. Paul, Minnesota.
  • 18 March 2018 Stephen Clark: Died in Sacramento, California after being shot at least seven times in the backyard of his grandmother, who was investigating a nearby break-in.
  • 13 March 2020: Breonna Taylor: Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician, was shot eight times when officers raided her apartment in Louisville, Kentucky.
  • 25 May 2020: George Floyd: George Floyd died in Minneapolis after being arrested and detained by police officers, one of whom had his knee on Mr Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes.
  • 25 May 2020: George Floyd: George Floyd died in Minneapolis after being arrested and detained by police officers, one of whom had his knee on Mr Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes.
  • April 11, 2021: After being pulled over for a traffic violation, police told Mr. Wright he was being arrested for an outstanding warrant. He broke free and tried to re-enter his car, at which point an officer could be heard yelling “tasar” several times before firing.

A 2020 study by the Harvard Chan School of Public Health found that black Americans are 3 times more likely to be killed by police than white Americans. The continued resistance of Republican lawmakers to support life-saving police reform is a politically motivated racist dog-whistling ploy to appease white nationalist voters and other types of all-right conservative voters.

Republican Senator Tim Scott, the only black person in the Senate, pushed for a bill called the JUSTICE Act that failed to pass because it did not include limiting the use of the most lethal excessive force and supporting qualified immunity for police officers. .

However, the trend is positive as the justice system begins to hold police officers accountable for killing black people in custody. The reality of systemic racism in policing is denied by Republicans but acknowledged by most Americans.

Published by rebeccasperber