Tyre Nichols Almost Made it Home

By Peter White | Ethnic Media Services

On Jan. 27, Memphis police released about an hour of the 20 hours of surveillance and body-cam footage they collected of Tyre Nichols’ fatal encounter with members of the Scorpion Squad, a special 40-member violent crime task force.

The video shows police kicking Nichols in the head and beating him for three minutes. He was pepper sprayed and struck with a baton as he pleaded for them to stop.

That same night, about 200 protesters marched onto the Interstate 55 bridge shutting down all four lanes for about three hours. A smaller group held a candlelight vigil in a Memphis park while others gathered in churches to honor the 29-year-old father, FedEx worker, avid skateboarder and photographer.

Demonstrations were also held in Washington D.C., New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and several other cities.

Call for police reform grows louder

“We want a disbandment of every special task force,” said Amber Sherman, a local Black Lives Matter organizer. She told the New York Times that the police have long used such units “to over-criminalize low-income, poor Black neighborhoods and to terrorize citizens. We want that ended,” she said.

Community activists also called for an end to pretextual traffic stops, where police stop motorists for minor infractions like a broken taillight and then search cars for drugs and weapons. The strategy, called “hot spot policing,” focuses on urban areas where crime is most likely to occur.

Memphis grassroots groups want the city to pass a data transparency ordinance to hold police accountable for misconduct and excessive use of force. They also called for the end of unmarked cars and plainsclothes officers patrolling Memphis neighborhoods. They want all city personnel on the scene the night Nichols was beaten, identified and their records released. Lastly, they want Memphis PD to stop traffic enforcement altogether.

Two of their demands, disbanding the Scorpion Squad and charging the officers who beat Tyre Nichols, have already been met. Another officer and three EMTs who did nothing to help Nichols after he was beaten have also been fired.

Remembering Tyre

On Feb. 4, a group gathered in front of the courthouse and then marched past the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center. They stopped at an intersection and blocked traffic for a couple of hours.

About 50 skateboarders also gathered in front of the National Civil Rights Museum to honor Tyre Nichols. Nichols was a regular at Tobey Skate Park. Cameron Blakely regularly skates there and said Nichols was “laid back” but a skilled skateboarder who was always trying new moves. He spray-painted “Justice for Tyre Nichols” on his board.

“Tyre ripped. He was actually doing stuff, and that’s why I want to keep it going. Just in case people forget and they don’t talk about him, there it is on my board,” Blakely said.

On the afternoon of Feb. 4 in Nashville, about 100 demonstrators gathered in the grass behind City Hall. Members of the Black Nashville Assembly passed out petitions containing the same five demands protesters in Memphis want. They held an hourlong vigil including a ceremony honoring past victims of police violence and