Perhaps this goes in another forum? I’m not a “Great Debates” poster, but this feels political and social so I put it here.
It is clear in advance of the video that the police were wrong and massively so. All five officers are fired and are facing murder charges. You know the police wouldn’t immediately fire them if they were not sure and the video is reported to be shocking, like even more shocking than George Floyd.
All five officers are Black and so was Nichols. Does this impact the conversation?
I’ll watch the video when it is released, though I would be sympathetic to anyone who does not want to see it. It’s apparently a full-blown murder.
It’s a good question, and deserves to be discussed. But maybe this situation gives folks an opportunity to discuss police culture (however that may differ from place to place) without the racism discussion overwhelming it. The militarization, the “respect mah authoritah!” trope, SWAT raids and all of it, much of it stemming from the “war on drugs” and everything involved in that. I would dearly love to see all of these things about police culture examined and most of them changed.
Yeah, I was thinking that, too, but in a different way. While these officers were fired and are facing legal trouble right away, that’s different from what took place with George Floyd. Why is that?
Relating to the thread topic, I am not sure what the intent of releasing this video is. I mean, I don’t know if I will have my mind changed - what’s been reported is Mr. Nichols ended up dead after a traffic stop. There is no way anyone should end up dead after being beaten to a pulp from a traffic stop. Everything about the outcome indicates massive abuse of police power. The video wont change my mind on that, and if it’s as sensational as the build-up is, I am not sure what good it will do, but I am open to being enlightened on that.
I would be highly surprised if the police were justified in their behavior, and the city/state turned them loose so quickly and swiftly. This is also bad news for the plainclothes unit the officers belonged to.
I think if they tried to cover something up after the fact, they would have been charged. Perhaps failure to act to try to stop whatever was happening, which I don’t think would be criminal, but could be grounds for firing them. That’s what makes me think this was an extended incident, still ongoing when the EMTs arrived.
This could be said of any salacious or controversial video that gets released - why release it?
I know if my child were to be killed, and it were on video, I would not want it released. What is gained by that?
I’m left with the conclusion that it is being released due to:
If I, the owner of the video, do not release it, I am subject to intense attention and accusations of malfeasance because I am “covering up”. Better to release it and deal with the fallout.
The distinct possibility that the video would be released by someone else in a leak, and potentially edited or deepfaked in some negative way. By releasing, I am attempting to control the narrative.
There’s going to be a lawsuit. And a criminal trial. This will be an exhibit. It will come out. Better sooner than later. It’s a public document, and the public has a right to know what happened.
“Last week, two MFD personnel involved in the initial patient care of Tyre Nichols were relieved of duty while an internal investigation is being conducted,” the Tennessee city’s fire department told Fox News on Tuesday.
Two Memphis Firefighters involved in the initial care of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols after the Jan. 7 traffic stop were “relieved of duty” pending the outcome of an internal investigation, a department spokeswoman said Monday. Qwanesha Ward, the public information officer for the department, declined to give more information on the firefighters or whether the have been suspended or dismissed, citing the ongoing nature of the investigation.
I think its bizarre that they have been talking about this video release happening Friday night like it’s a movie premiere. I understand the reasons for not releasing it until people are home for the weekend but the countdown clock aspect is weird.
I can not for the life of me find it, but there was an editorial/article the other day about Black officers that join the police and end up becoming “some of the good ones” that are just as racist and abusive to Black people as the white officers.
It’s body camera footage and therefore likely to be public record, though the state does not have to release it until after prosecutors are finished with it.
As to comments about why so swift here and not with George Floyd, note that Memphis PD enacted a number of policies between then and now.
As for the Friday night release, Memphis timed it after kids had gone home from school for the weekend due to concerns about civil unrest.
Attorney Ben Crump, one of the family’s attorneys, told reporters during a news conference Monday that Nichols was tased, pepper sprayed and restrained during the incident — part of which occurred nearly 80 yards from where he lived with his mother and stepfather. Crump said that, in body camera footage of the incident, Nichols could be heard calling out for his mother.