I simply could not bring myself to watch either one of the two brutal videos that dropped today, despairing of what each of them has to say about the crippled wreck of the soul of my country, and the swirling maelstrom it is disappearing into.
Viewing the Paul Pelosi attack video would be little more than voyeurism in any case. I know the broad outlines of what happened in that case and felt no overwhelming desire to see the man actually bludgeoned.
But I wanted to know WHY Tyre Nichols was beaten to death by five police officers in the streets of Memphis, so I sought out the opinion of a man whom I knew would have the stomach to watch it – and the reporting chops to answer my questions.
Robert Evans is a journalist for Bellingcat who has covered the conflicts in Iraq, Ukraine, the Kurdish regions of Syria, and the mean streets of Portland, Oregon where he was personally assaulted by police and right-wing extremists. He is the host of the excellent podcast Behind The Bastards, an episodic examination of the worst people in history, and so an exercise that uniquely qualifies him to comment on the beating death of Tyre.
I don’t always agree with all of his political views but respect his perspective:
he escapes. the police attempt to tase him. then they stand around panting and drinking water. they are all absolutely gassed from beating a skinny young man five to one.
— Robert Evans (The Only Robert Evans) (@IwriteOK) January 28, 2023
From the start of this footage Tyre seems badly injured. He is not resisting so much as thrashing while being beaten. The cops stand him up. One starts to punch him, throwing haymakers at Tyre's face while the others hold him still.
— Robert Evans (The Only Robert Evans) (@IwriteOK) January 28, 2023
After they spray him Tyre sits up. He does not seem fully in control of his body. Nothing he does could be described as resistance. He is reacting to being beaten and maced. When he sits up they throw him back to the ground, slamming his head into the pavement.
— Robert Evans (The Only Robert Evans) (@IwriteOK) January 28, 2023
They wrestle him to the ground, mace him again. They mace themselves too. They keep yelling at him to give them his hands. Three officers are on him. He does not seem fully conscious. The maced cop recovers, takes out a baton and says "I'm going to baton the fuck out of you."
— Robert Evans (The Only Robert Evans) (@IwriteOK) January 28, 2023
They take him down again. More cops arrive on-scene. One officer complains that Tyre made him mace himself.
— Robert Evans (The Only Robert Evans) (@IwriteOK) January 28, 2023
We see the takedown. A tackle. His head hits the ground. It is kinda unclear what happens beyond the violence. The camera is obscured for much of what happens.
— Robert Evans (The Only Robert Evans) (@IwriteOK) January 28, 2023
Eventually he gets up, the camera clears. The cops talk and laugh about chasing him down. One complains about hurting his knee in the tackle. We see Tyre lying half against the car, twitching, barely conscious. One cop accuses him of being high.
— Robert Evans (The Only Robert Evans) (@IwriteOK) January 28, 2023
So there it is, the cops were mad at the boy for “making” them mace themselves… and so the beating escalated out of control.
Tonight, in Memphis, the protests are just beginning, and what they will lead to no one knows:
Protesters in Memphis now heading up to the upper level of the highway. #TyreNichols pic.twitter.com/lNYeT8eKNx
— Kirstin Garriss (@ReporterGarriss) January 28, 2023
But if there is violence born out of the justified rage at the ugliness of Tyre’s death, we all know who will bear the greatest measure of resultant grief from it – those folk who look like both the victim and the victimizers in this grievous tragedy.
There is a cancer in the body of America, a malignant and metastasizing disease born of our original sin, born of our ignorance, fear and hatred that I suspect cannot be cut out without killing it’s host.
God help us all.
2nd degree murder charges are not nearly enough. All five of these pieces of shit need to be as dead as Mr. Tyre.
I watched it. I did it to honor Tyre and his family. Cop Brutality – that’s all it was. There needs to be a couple more arrests. The guy with the baton? The other cops that showed up and did nothing to stop them? Seeing two of the guys fist bump once Tyre was sitting up against the car (beaten with a broken neck and head trauma) like they did the good deed. There needs to be federal law against this bull shit. Police reform big time. These guys have done this before.
I think they issue conflicting orders intentionally, so no matter what you do they can get you for not obeying them.
state sponsored murder is what this is.
I think everything should watch this video in all its graphic detail . Some people are only getting the basic information . It’s time they should be shown in horrifying detail what this guy had to endure knowing that this is how he is going to die
“There is a cancer in the body of America, a malignant and metastasizing disease born of our original sin, born of our ignorance, fear and hatred that I suspect cannot be cut out without killing it’s host.”
Well said, Dino. God help us all indeed. I wonder what Martin Luther King Jr. would say if he could see that video. Makes me sad just thinking about it.😪