There’s a storm brewing in Memphis.
Five Memphis police officers were fired this week after a civil rights investigation by the Justice Department and the FBI found they used excessive force when they killed a man in a January 7th traffic stop. Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, died three days after suffering a ‘medical emergency’ during the traffic stop arrest.
While no bodycam footage of the incident nor an official cause of death has been released, Nichols’ relatives allege that he suffered a heart attack, several broken bones, kidney failure, and other injuries after he was beaten by the arresting officers. The fact that these officers have been fired before any footage has even gone public should speak to the seriousness of their crimes.
Tyre Nichols’ family has demanded that all the officers involved face first-degree murder charges. Nichols’ stepfather put it best when he said, “You shouldn’t be on a dialysis machine looking like this because of a traffic stop.” There’ll be more to come regarding this story, but it’s a tragic continuation of the police brutality we’ve gotten accustomed to.
Side Items
Peruvian Protests: Thousands took to the streets yesterday calling for President Dina Boluarte to step down. Oh Dina, we hardly knew ye! The unrest followed a day of turmoil on Thursday, when one of Lima's most historic buildings burned to the ground, as Boluarte promised to get tougher on "vandals"
Shootout in Cop City Forest: A protester was killed and a police officer wounded in a shootout in the woods outside Atlanta this week. The city of Atlanta is investing ~$90 million in a police training facility nicknamed “Cop City” in the South River Forest. The proposal for the facility was developed by the Atlanta Police Foundation (APF), a nonprofit that uses private dollars to promote policing in a variety of ways. In September 2021, the Atlanta City Council approved leasing the land to the APF to build, among other things, a “mock village” aka a police playground, complete with a “hotel/nightclub” and a “convenience store”. Supporters of Cop City say it’s needed to fight violent crime and to promote morale and retention among the piglets, who currently train out of “substandard” facilities. Opponents of the training center have been protesting for over a year by building platforms in surrounding trees and camping out at the site. They say that the project involves cutting down so many trees that it would be environmentally damaging. They also oppose investing so much money in a space to be used to practice “urban warfare.” Thirteen people were arrested this week and charged with domestic terrorism and criminal trespass with other charges pending
Italian Scammers: Juventus, Italy’s most storied and decorated football club, was hit with a massive 15-point penalty among other punishments for ‘false accounting’ aka fraud. The record 36-time Italian champions were third in Serie A prior to the penalty, which drops the Bianconeri to a midtable position. The team could still face further penalties from UEFA, but it just shows that it doesn’t pay to cheat