Protests erupt across US after Memphis releases video of ex-cops beating Tyre Nichols

People took to the streets across the United States Friday night after the city of Memphis, Tennessee released videos of a January 7 traffic stop that led to five police officers being fired and charged with the murder of 29-year-old Black motorist Tyre Nichols.

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE

The Memphis-based Commercial Appealreported that protesters advocating for police reform shut down the Interstate 55 bridge that connects Tennessee and Arkansas:

As of 8:30 pm, more than 100 people remained on the Harahan Bridge with protest leaders saying they wanted to talk with Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and Memphis Police Department Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis before disbanding. MPD officers closed off roads leading to the bridge―and several others downtown―but had not directly confronted protesters.

Protesters started moving off of the bridge around 9:00 pm. As they marched eastbound on E.H. Crump Boulevard towards police, they locked arms and chanted “we ready, we ready, we ready for y’all.” Protestors then turned north, toward central downtown. As they passed by residences, some people came out on their balconies to cheer.

Surrounded by protestors on I-55, NBC News‘ Priscilla Thompson said that “they are chanting, they are calling the name of Tyre Nichols. They are calling for change.”

Demonstrators and the Nichols family have called for disbanding the MPD Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods (SCORPION) team that launched in 2021 and was involved in the traffic stop. The Memphis mayor said Friday afternoon that the unit has been inactive since Nichols’ January 10 death.

The footage shows that after police brutally beat Nichols—pushing him to the ground; using pepper spray; punching and kicking him; and striking him with a baton—it took 22 minutes from when officers said he was in custody for an ambulance to arrive and take him to the hospital, where he later died from cardiac arrest and kidney failure.

ATLANTA, GEORGIA

In Georgia, though Republican Gov. Brian Kemp earlier this week signed an executive order enabling him to deploy 1,000 National Guard troops “as necessary” following protests in Atlanta over law enforcement killing 26-year-old forest defender Manuel “Tortuguita” Teran, those who gathered after the video release Friday night “expressed outrage but did so peacefully.”

That’s according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which detailed that “a small but spirited crowd” of roughly 50 people formed in downtown Atlanta.

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

Just before the footage was released Friday, a vigil was held at “The Embrace” statue installed on Boston Common to honor Rev. Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King.

The Boston Globe reported that Imari Paris Jeffries, executive director of King Boston, which installed the monument, highlighted that the civil rights icon was assassinated while visiting Memphis in 1968 to advocate for sanitation workers whose slogan was “Am I a man?”

“Today we are thinking about Memphis and Brother Tyre, and the slogan of today is still, ‘Am I a man?'” Jeffries said. “Seeing the humanity in each of us is the cornerstone of true change. Experiencing another heinous display reminds us that no family should feel this pain, ever. And there’s still work to do.”

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

“From Memphis to Chicago, these killer cops have got to go,” chanted about a dozen people who gathered near a police precinct in the Illinois city despite freezing temperatures, according to USA TODAY. Their signs read, “Justice for Tyre Nichols” and “End police terror.”

DALLAS, TEXAS

In Texas, The Dallas Morning News reported that Dominique Alexander, founder of the Next Generation Action Network, called Nichols’ death a “total disregard for life, for humanity.”

“The culture of policing is what is allowing these officers to feel like they can take our lives,” Alexander said. “We want peace and calm in our communities, and we will do whatever is necessary to demand justice so our children don’t have to deal with the same bullcrap we are dealing with now.”

DETROIT, MICHIGAN

The Detroit branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) organized a Friday rally featuring speeches and a moment of silence. Michiganders held signs that declared, “Unions against police murder” and “Systems of racist police, violence must end.”

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

A demonstration outside the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) headquarters became “tense” late Friday after a “protest march grew out of a candlelight vigil for Nichols and Keenan Anderson, who died this month after L.A. police pinned him to the ground and discharged a Taser on him at least six times in 42 seconds,” according to the Los Angeles Times.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

In New York City, “protests were mostly peaceful, but emotions ran high,” reported a local ABC affiliate, noting three arrests.

According to the outlet:

They demonstrated at Grand Central Terminal and Union Square, and crisscrossed the city, eventually bringing the Crossroads of the World to a screeching halt.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

“It’s absolutely disgusting,” PSL organizer Talia Gile said of the footage during a Friday speech in Philadelphia’s Center City. “It shows the complete and utter disregard for human life. It shows the fact that police, no matter what their race is, are going to terrorize people because that’s what the system is meant to do. It’s meant to abuse its power against citizens.”

PORTLAND, OREGON

The Oregonian reported that in Portland on Friday night, “People kept mostly to sidewalks but blocked the Burnside Bridge for a few minutes as they stood to honor Nichol.”

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Protests were held in the nation’s capital Friday night on K Street Northwest and at Lafayette Square.

Originally published at Commondreams.org.