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Protest in New York: indignation after the violent death of Tylor Nichols
Photo:
Yuki Iwamura/AP
In the case of Tire Nichols, who died in Memphis after being brutally arrested, there are apparently clear differences between the first depiction of the police and the video material.
This emerges from several US media.
In a report that a police officer is said to have written a few hours after the incident, there was talk of Nichols being stopped because he was driving fast and into oncoming traffic, reports the New York Times, among others.
The man "resisted a lawful arrest" and put up a fight.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said investigators were unable to determine whether Nichols was actually driving "recklessly."
"The report is disingenuous"
According to the New York Post, that police report also alleges that Nichols grabbed a police officer's gun and tugged at their duty belts.
It also said officers were able to take Nichols into custody "after several verbal announcements."
It is mentioned that a police officer hit him on the right arm with his baton.
However, the extent of the beating is not described.
The footage released by the Memphis Police Department confirms none of the allegations against 29-year-old Black Nichols.
Videos of the operation show, among other things, how the police tried to bring the 29-year-old to the ground with tear gas and a stun gun.
The man tries to flee, but the police stop him.
Later, Nichols is seen lying on the ground moaning in pain as the cops keep punching and kicking him.
Three days after the incident, Nichols succumbed to his injuries in hospital.
“Reading the police report, you wouldn't think Tire died from excessive violence.
It's worded to put responders in a positive light," said Van Turner, a representative of the Memphis National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) civil rights organization, according to the Washington Post, of the first notice: " The report is disingenuous.”
Insufficient care by emergency services
In the past week, five police officers who were suspended and then fired after the incident have been charged with second-degree murder, which in Tennessee is an intermediate stage between murder and manslaughter.
Like the victim, the five men are African American.
It is now known that two other police officers have been suspended.
At least one of them had already been released from duty "at the beginning of the investigation into the death of Tire Nichols along with the other police officers," said a police spokeswoman.
The police have not yet given a reason for the suspension.
The Memphis Fire Department also announced that two paramedics and an ambulance driver had been fired.
They did not provide adequate medical care to Nichols after the police officers beat him.
In the United States, there are regular deadly police operations of a similar nature. The case of George Floyd is representative of this: In May 2020, the African American died during a police operation in Minneapolis.
The case led to nationwide protests against police violence and racism.
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