After Tire Nichols’ death: “We should be ashamed”

After the death of black Tire Nichols, racism and police reforms are discussed in the USA. In the meantime, two paramedics had to go because of the case, and according to US media, other police officers were also released.

“We should be ashamed if the tragic death of Tire Nichols doesn’t finally lead to police reform,” appealed Ben Crump, attorney for the slain Tire Nichols’ family on CNN. He spoke of the “George Floyd Justice in Policing Act”, a police reform named after George Floyd, who was smothered by a white police officer with his knee in the neck in May 2020. But the reform failed in Congress and nothing happened.

Now politicians are again looking for answers to deadly police violence. Democrats like Dick Durbin, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, are pushing for reform. He knew that law enforcement, by and large, is a state and local responsibility. However, that should not absolve federal policy from responsibility. “We have to change something,” Durbin said on ABC.

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Republican Jim Jordan, disagreed. He explained to NBC that he didn’t think any law could have prevented the evil that happened. The Democrats always wanted new laws as soon as something terrible happened.

Thousands demonstrate against police violence

The videos, which show 29-year-old Nichols being so brutally beaten by five police officers – also black – that he died in hospital three days later, are hard to bear.

Thousands of people demonstrated against police violence and for police reform in several US cities over the weekend. For most, it’s a clear case of racism, even if the cops who hit them are black themselves.

Debate on systemic racism

Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis does not recognize systemic racism in the police force. She explained that racism was not an issue in this case. University of Maryland sociology professor Rashawn Ray sees it differently. He has been researching the police and racism for years. He said on CNN: “We know that white and black police officers have similar attitudes and behaviors – especially towards black people.”

And he said studies have shown that where police officers come from and where they are deployed plays a big role. If police officers come from or live in the region in which they are deployed, it is much more likely that they will behave appropriately. And cops were much less likely to live in mostly black neighborhoods. Politics could derive consequences from this, according to Ray.

Democratic Rep. Maxin Waters doesn’t believe it. In an interview with MSNBC, she said that only pressure from citizens would change anything: “I don’t have much hope that we’ll get police reform through. It’s about racism. And some don’t like it when I say: People take to the streets, protest. But I’ll say it again.”

Paramedics and driver also fired

Unlike many other cases of deadly police violence in the United States, this time there were quick consequences, at least for the police officers involved. Five police officers have been fired and are charged with, among other things, second-degree murder, which corresponds to manslaughter in the German legal system. The special unit to which the police officers belonged was disbanded. US media reported on Monday two more police releases, citing Memphis police.

Two paramedics and a fire brigade driver were also fired. They failed to provide an adequate assessment of the patient and failed to fulfill their duties, it said. Tire Nichols is scheduled to be buried in Memphis on Wednesday.