Washington (EFE)
Most of the protests are scheduled for Saturday night, but in cities like Atlanta (Georgia) dozens of people have already taken to the streets to call out Nichols’ name and demand justice for his death.
The protests are emerging in a decentralized way; but, for today Saturday, there are fewer calls than for Friday night.
After the publication of the videos, on Friday night, protests took place in several cities in the United States.
Justice for Tire Nichols
In Memphis (Tennessee), where the event occurred, hundreds of people blocked traffic on a city highway on Friday night shouting “without justice, there is no peace,” local media reported.
Meanwhile, in New York, more than a hundred people demonstrated in Times Square, in the center of Manhattan, to demand justice.
In addition, dozens of people, mostly young people, gathered in front of the White House on Friday night with signs calling for “an end to police terror,” “justice for Tire Nichols” and “jail up killer cops.”
The five officers who beat Nichols, all black, have been arrested and face various criminal charges, including second-degree murder.
The videos published by the authorities of Memphis (Tennessee, USA) show how the policemen beat up Nichols, 29, kicking him in the head and insulting him while the victim shouted: “Mom, mom” and “give me a minute”.
Memphis Police announce reforms
The Memphis Police (Tennessee, USA) announces reforms in response to the death of the young African-American Tyron Nichols.
Specifically, the local Police will permanently dismantle the Escorpión unit to which the agents belonged.
In a statement, the director of the Memphis Police, the African-American Cerelyn “CJ” Davis, explained that she had a meeting with the members of the “Scorpion” unit and it was determined that it was best to dismantle it, in response to requests from the police. Nichols family and community leaders.
The Scorpion unit, made up of 40 agents, was created by the Memphis Police in 2021 with the aim of reducing violence in the neighborhoods of the city that suffer it the most.
On Friday during a press conference, Antonio Romanucci, one of the Nichols family lawyers, called for the immediate elimination of the Scorpion unit, considering that it had lost the support of the citizens and that the African-American community could no longer trust their agents.
It is not known exactly how many of the five officers who beat Tyron Nichols were from that unit.
Nearly a third of all people killed by police in the United States in 2021 were African-Americans, despite being only 13% of the country’s population, according to the organization Mapping Police Violence.
