Famed non secular chief and civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton has weighed in on the loss of life of Tyre Nichols and the 5 Memphis law enforcement officials who had been captured on body-cam footage beating him to loss of life.
Sharpton didn’t mince phrases when talking in Harlem on Jan. 28. On the Nationwide Motion Community, the group’s chief stated he was horrified by the footage, and in contrast the incident to the notorious beating of Rodney King in 1991, the identical yr the group was based.
“Here I am now in 2023, and I’m looking at another video in color, where I’m seeing another Black man being beat to death,” Sharpton stated. “Rodney didn’t die. This is worse. It’s beat to death with no mercy on no crime that they can even find that he had committed.”
The reverend pledged to assist maintain the 5 officers — who had been additionally Black — accountable, charging that the lads can’t disguise behind their race within the trials to return.
“Did you think ‘cause you was Black we wouldn’t say nothing? Did you call thinking you would hide behind your blackness?” Sharpton stated to a rousing spherical of applause. “I want to say loud and clear that we will fight Black cops, white cops, all the cops committing crimes against us.”
Nichols, a 29-year-old father to a four-year-old boy, was reportedly on his method dwelling on Jan. 7 when he was stopped by police. The Memphis Police Division initially stated he’d been stopped for reckless driving, however the police chief later stated the division was unable to substantiate that declare. Shortly after, officers wrestled Nichols to the bottom earlier than utilizing a stun gun on him. After a quick wrestle, the cops beat Nichols till he was critically injured and in handcuffs. He died of his accidents three days later.
Sharpton alleged Saturday that the 5 officers tried to cowl up their crime by “saying one thing and doing another.” He feels that the cops may have subdued Nichols with handcuffs at any time however as an alternative selected to mercilessly beat their sufferer.
“We are not anti-white police brutality, we are anti-police brutality,” Sharpton stated. “These five cops not only disgrace their badge, they disgrace their race.”
Outrage over Nichols’ loss of life has reverberated from Memphis to the Huge Apple, with livid protesters hitting the streets of New York ever for the reason that footage was launched.
A funeral for Nichols is scheduled to happen on Wednesday, Feb. 1.