U. S. police can expect big reform
2023.01.29 12:33
U. S. police can expect big reform
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – The Black man Tyre Nichols, who was beaten to death by Memphis police officers, was represented by an attorney on Sunday. The attorney said that Nichols’ mother hoped the tragedy could bring about a “greater good.”
Ben Crump stated on CNN’s “State of the Union”:
“Shame on us if we don’t use his tragic death to finally get the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act passed.”
According to court records, all five officers are scheduled to appear before Judge James Jones of the Shelby County criminal court on February 17 at 9 a.m. for a bond arraignment.
Crump said that he and the Nichols family had talked to President Joe Biden on Friday and asked him to use Nichols’s death to get people behind the act, which would make it more likely to pass.
Crump stated on Sunday’s episode of ABC’s “This Week” that Nichols’ mother was coping with her son’s death by believing he was destined to change the world.
“She believes in her heart that Tyre was sent here for an assignment and that this tragedy will lead to greater good.”
After George Floyd’s death in 2021, when a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes, protests over racial injustice spread worldwide, the “George Floyd Justice in Policing Act” was introduced.
In 2021, the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives approved the bill, which aims to stop aggressive law enforcement tactics. However, it stalled in the Senate. On Thursday, Biden requested that the legislation be sent to him by Congress.
The death of Nichols is the most recent high-profile incident in which police used excessive force against Black people and other minority groups. Crump argued that the death of Nichols should finally compel lawmakers to take action.
Crump stated on CNN that:
“it is this culture that says, It doesn’t matter whether the police officers are Black, Hispanic, or white, that it is somehow allowed for you to trample on the constitutional rights of certain citizens from certain ethnicities and certain communities.”
On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Republican House of Representatives Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan advised against rushing into new legislation to establish new police mandates.
“These five people didn’t care about life at all. Additionally, I do not believe that these five individuals represent the vast majority of law enforcement. However, he stated, “I don’t know if you can do anything to stop the kind of evil we saw in that video.”
After bodycam and street surveillance footage showed them violently confronting Nichols on Jan. 7, five Black officers are charged with Nichols’ murder.
Nichols, 29, was taken to the hospital and died three days later from his injuries in the city where he worked at FedEx (NYSE:) and lived with his mother and stepfather.
The officers’ SCORPION unit was disbanded by the Memphis Police Department on Saturday, a day after harrowing video of the attack was released, and protests were held in American cities.
On Thursday, the officers were dismissed from the department after being charged with second-degree murder, assault, kidnapping, official misconduct, and oppression in Nichols’ death.
