#Black People Murdered By Cops

[reasoningdaily]

The Hill: Congressional Black Caucus invites families impacted by police violence to State of the Union

RowVaughn Wells cries as she and her husband Rodney Wells attend the funeral service for her son Tyre Nichols at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, Tenn., on Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023. Nichols died following a brutal beating by Memphis police after a traffic stop. (Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean via AP, Pool)

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) have invited families that have lost loved ones at the hands of police to be their guests at President Biden’s State of the Union on Tuesday.

The parents and siblings of George Floyd, Eric Garner, Walter Scott, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Ronald Greene and others will join members of the caucus, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), on Capitol Hill Tuesday night.

RowVaughn and Rodney Wells, the mother and stepfather of Tyre Nichols, will attend the speech as guests of Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), who is chairman of the CBC. They will sit in first lady Jill Biden’s box during the speech, according to theGrio.

theGrio also reported that Horsford will hold a closed-door roundtable with CBC members and the families so elected leaders can “hear directly from those constituents who…have been impacted by policing in America.”

The caucus met with Biden last week to discuss the need for police reform after harrowing video footage showed Nichols beaten by five police officers in Memphis.

“My hope is this dark memory [of Nichols’s death] spurs some action that we’ve all been fighting for,” Biden told the CBC members.

“We got to stay at it, as long as it takes,” he added.

Caucus members and Democrats in both chambers have called for police reform since the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn., in 2020.

Their legislation, the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, has stalled in Congress. In addition to banning chokeholds and no-knock warrants, the bill would end qualified immunity and prohibit racial and religious profiling by law enforcement officers.

But Republicans argue the bill goes too far, and though Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) is expected to reintroduce the bill with an added “Tyre Nichols Duty to Intervene” amendment after the State of the Union address, it’s unlikely to move forward in a GOP-controlled House.

“The death of Tyre Nichols is yet another example of why we need action,” Horsford told Biden in the meeting last week. “You’ve already led on the action we’ve been able to take on executive order. We need your help on legislative action to…make public safety the priority.”

[dykedvonte]

My post about Anya is making like a little ruckus on Twitter and I think it’s crazy how many people like have a problem with it.

Like you don’t have to agree with how I characterize Anya and her actions but it’s more like, why are you focused on only one aspect of her character? Why are you removing nuance from the situation? I don’t see it as giving Curly the benefit of the doubt when it comes to doing better for Anya, but as exploring his character and hers relationship with a the very little authentic facts we get about them. In truth, there’s a lot more I wish Curly did, even if it wasn’t pragmatic but I realize the issue there.

The first psychological horror game in a while that’s real intricate in its storytelling and makes you need to really need to address the morality of intentions and its already getting torn asunder smh 😔

[jellogram]

I fucking haaaaaate when people refer to a woman, usually a victim of abuse or murder, as "somebody's daughter." It's so common, and it's so insane to me that it's not usually considered an extremely sexist thing to say. Like who gives a fuck who her parents are, she's a fucking PERSON?

[tariah23]

I don’t even know what to say.

[the-everqueen]

"well said," "articulate," "we need more civil discussion like this" = red flags for me, personally, because while i think being legible has a political use-value, legible and civil as concepts are always premised on dominant modes of thought. in other words, you can't only listen to marginalized persons when they speak real nice and don't make anyone uncomfortable. civility and comfort aren't how any of us get free.

[chaogongoozles]

// vent , journal?, letter to the void to a specific person? Whatever, if ya know ya know//

Didn't think I'd have a close pal choose to be a dirty fucking pig (cop) apologist knowing damn well everything they do and done to marginalized groups, all while trying to tell me "I don't support them!.. but also don't call my coworkers pigs that's disrespectful >:(" bitch??? Blow it out your ass, you wanna fuck around with the pig squad thinking you can 'be a good one' while still supporting them because you work with them? Fine by me, but you're not my friend or ever will be as long as you keep that bluelivesmatter mentality knowing damn well who I am, or who my partner is, or everyone close who has been directly affected by them. Already trying to say the 'negative talk' that cops get is what's the main issue in society™ without wondering WHY so many people fucking hate cops? Or thinking the horrible conditions prisoners are put in is the police 'being underfunded ' when that's by fucking design? Crying that people are calling you horrible shit for being a cop apologist? Boohoo cry me a river, that'll never be nearly as bad as the abuse and deaths millions of people (majority black or Native American) face from the hands of the police.

Damn fucking shame you listened to all the goons around you + those back at home who brought you and your amazing artwork down to the point you even had to work with dirty swine. Thinking that's the only way you can "help people" when you know damn well there's many more opportunities and positions that actually help people (even incorporating your art into it), but instead choosing the very thing that's suppressing us while throwing away your hard work/passions. Fuck you. If you're going to chalk up the horrors that are happening as "fake news/online garbage" or "dumb people recording cops and wondering why they're getting arrested", you're already too far gone.

RIP to the person I once knew and loved. Guess what they say is true, you either grow with friends from childhood/highschool or grow apart. We've obviously grown apart. So good bye.

[saphyrenights]

i'm begging y'all not to put the tyre nichols video on my dash. like i am very literally begging you not to do it.

if you feel the need to post it, unfollow me. i'm not playing.

[androgynousbirdtale]

DA: 5 Memphis cops 'all responsible' for Tyre Nichols' death

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Five fired Memphis police officers were charged Thursday with murder and other crimes in the killing of Tyre Nichols, a Black motorist who died three days after a confrontation with the officers during a traffic stop.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told a news conference that although the officers each played different roles in the killing, “they are all responsible.”

The officers, who are all Black, each face charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.

Video of the Jan. 7 traffic stop will be released to the public sometime Friday evening, Mulroy said. Nichols’ family and their lawyers said the footage shows officers savagely beating the 29-year-old FedEx worker for three minutes in an assault that the legal team likened to the infamous 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King. His family urged supporters to protest peacefully.

Nichols’ stepfather, Rodney Wells, told The Associated Press by phone that he and his wife, RowVaughn Wells, who is Nichols’ mother, discussed the second-degree murder charges and are “fine with it.” They had sought first-degree murder charges.

“There’s other charges, so I’m all right with that,” he said.

Asked about the kidnapping charges, the district attorney said: “If it was a legal detention to begin with, it certainly became illegal at a certain point and was an unlawful detention.”

David Rausch, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, said he saw the video and found it “absolutely appalling.”

“Let me be clear: What happened here does not at all reflect proper policing. This was wrong. This was criminal,” Rausch said during the news conference.

Court records showed that all five former officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith — were taken into custody.

Martin’s lawyer, William Massey, confirmed that his client had turned himself in. He and Mills’ lawyer, Blake Ballin, said their clients would plead not guilty. Lawyers for Smith, Bean and Haley could not be reached.

“No one out there that night intended for Tyre Nichols to die,” Massey said.

Both lawyers said they had not seen the video.

“We are in the dark about many things, just like the general public is,” Ballin said.

Second-degree murder is punishable by 15 to 60 years in prison under Tennessee law.

Later Thursday, Nichols’ mother and stepfather were joined by several dozen supporters on a cold night for a candlelight vigil and prayer service at a Memphis skate park. Nichols, who had a 4-year-old son, was an avid skateboarder.

RowVaughn Wells thanked those who attended, then added that her family is “grief stricken.”

She warned supporters of the “horrific” nature of the video set to be released Friday, but she pleaded with supporters to “protest in peace.”

“I don’t want us burning up our city, tearing up the streets, because that’s not what my son stood for,” she said. “If you guys are here for me and Tyre, then you will protest peacefully. You can get your point across, but we don’t need to tear up our cities, people, because we do have to live in them.”

Activists and clergy led the group in prayer and a drummer played a steady rhythm to lead into the spoken part of the vigil. Afterwards, skaters rode their boards as Wells and her husband watched.

The attorneys for Nichols’ family, Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, issued a statement saying that Nichols “lost his life in a particularly disgusting manner that points to the desperate need for change and reform to ensure this violence stops occurring during low-threat procedures, like in this case, a traffic stop.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who runs the National Action Network and will deliver the eulogy at Nichols’ funeral service next week, called the charges “a necessary step in delivering justice” for Nichols.

“There is no point to putting a body camera on a cop if you aren’t going to hold them accountable when the footage shows them relentlessly beating a man to death,” Sharpton said. “Firings are not enough. Indictments and arrests are not convictions. As we’ve done in the past ... we will stand by this family until justice is done.”

At the White House, President Joe Biden said the Nichols family and the city of Memphis deserve “a swift, full and transparent investigation.”

“Public trust is the foundation of public safety, and there are still too many places in America today where the bonds of trust are frayed or broken,” Biden said in a statement.

The Memphis police chief has called the officers’ actions that night “heinous, reckless and inhumane.”

“This is not just a professional failing. This is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual,” Memphis Police Director Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said in a video statement released late Wednesday on social media.

Davis said the five officers found to be “directly responsible for the physical abuse of Mr. Nichols,” were fired last week, but other officers are still being investigated for violating department policy. In addition, she said “a complete and independent review” will be conducted of the department’s specialized units, without providing further details.

Two fire department workers were also removed from duty over the Nichols’ arrest.

As state and federal investigations continue, Davis promised the police department’s “full and complete cooperation” to determine what contributed to Nichols’ Jan. 10 death.

Mulroy told The Associated Press on Tuesday that local and state investigators wanted to complete as many interviews as possible before releasing the video. The timetable has rankled some activists who expected the video to be released after Nichols’ family and the family’s lawyers viewed it Monday.

Crump said the video showed that Nichols was shocked, pepper-sprayed and restrained when he was pulled over near his home. He was returning home from a suburban park where he had taken photos of the sunset.

Police have said Nichols was stopped for reckless driving and at some point fled from the scene.

Relatives have accused the police of causing Nichols to have a heart attack and kidney failure. Authorities have only said Nichols experienced a medical emergency.

When video of the arrest is publicly released, Davis said she expects people in the community to react, but she urged them to do so peacefully.

“None of this is a calling card for inciting violence or destruction on our community or against our citizens,” she said.

One of the officers, Haley, was accused previously of using excessive force. He was named as a defendant in a 2016 federal civil rights lawsuit while employed by the Shelby County Division of Corrections.

The plaintiff, Cordarlrius Sledge, stated that he was an inmate in 2015 when Haley and another corrections officer accused him of flushing contraband. The two officers “hit me in the face with punches,” according to the complaint.

A third officer then slammed his head to the ground, Sledge said. He lost consciousness and woke up in the facility’s medical center.

The claims were ultimately dismissed after a judge ruled that Sledge had failed to file a grievance against the officers within 30 days of the incident.

Washington Post

[ramsesja]

Evidence shows that better training doesn't lead to better officers. It is a persistent myth and narrative that prevents real, necessary reform when it comes to policing and public safety.

(…study lead author Calvin Lai, an assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

“Officers who took the training were more knowledgeable about bias and more motivated to address bias at work,” Lai said. “However, these effects were fleeting and appear to have little influence on actual policing behaviors just one month after the training session.”

Published Feb. 3 in the journal Psychological Science, the study evaluates the experiences of 3,764 police officers from departments across the nation…) -The Source at Washington University in St. Louis

[dyklopces]

being honest here soc professor defending Kyle rittenhouse was not on my bingo card for this semester. but here we are

[belanova]

i don't think i actually want to see luzu and quackity to make up, not for angst purposes or anything but i feel like at this point it would be REALLY WEIRD for them two cause quackity had his pet killed, jump started a group against luzu, made an entire white house to go "oh y'know what i change my mind actually" and luzu who now had his daughter killed, his guards and his pet killed to also go "Yeah i forgive you too <3".... LIKE NO THAT ISN'T SALVAGEABLE ANYMORE???

[macy-bee]

I keep seeing posts about how voting is important this November and how even though Biden is supporting multiple genocides, we still have better access to Medicare and weed.

Like. I don’t think folks are hearing themselves. And I don’t think the folks that now have better access to Medicare care very much about it as they’re getting the shit beat out of them by the police (funded and supported by Biden) while practicing their right to protest at their school. Not to mention having their masks ripped off of them and exposed to Covid and AI facial recognition (both of which has not been curbed by this administration and is causing real harm). I don’t think people understand that fascist regimes are not stupid and to manipulate their constituents, produce minor improvements while violently oppressing the mass majority. They put a bandaid on the problem and say they’re making change without actually changing the core problem.

If you still want to vote, vote third party. But do NOT support the neoliberal flavor of fascism currently destroying our country and countless lives across the globe.

[herunswithscissors]

I love how Spongebob doesn't lie to kids about cops.

All the cops are kinda assholes and some are downright abusive and scarily sadistic and grossly oppressive and unjust. They just smile and tell jokes while they do it so the adults never notice and the kids don't get scared. But it plants the seeds of truth in them before the copaganda can really take hold with Paw Patrol onward.

[m-12-7-jo]

Instead of the video:

if you can stomach it i would recommend watching the body cam footage of the sonya massey killing, i'll try to describe it but it's hardly possible. you can't truly understand the type of extreme, completely volatile aggression that happens with cops if you haven't seen it, and it's captured here very harrowingly.

several officers are in her house, calmly talking with her about her id and vehicle papers for some time. it's routine administrative stuff, no acute danger or stress whatsoever. one of them tells her to take her pot off the stove, remarking that they don't need a fire in the house now, she walks over into the kitchen and complies. he suddenly backs off towards the front door despite already being several feet away. she asks him where he's going, he says "away from your hot, steaming water." she repeats "my hot, steamin' water?" in an amused tone. then adds "i rebuke you in the name of jesus," in a similar joking tone while pouring the water down the sink. the atmosphere is completely calm, you might even say amiable.

she's at this point still separated from the cops by her kitchen aisle and several feet of additional distance. the cop prompts her to repeat what she said, she repeats her joke about rebuking him in the name of jesus [with the scary water she just poured out]. she doesn't even realise there's been a complete 180 in his head. he goes "you better fucking not, i will shoot you in your fucking face," she's stunned by the sudden abusive language for half a second, immediately he draws his gun directly at her head, she gets out a panicked "sorry!" and ducks behind the aisle, he rounds the corner into the kitchen specifically to advance right next to her, immediately fires 3 shots at her head from above at minimal distance. she's dead where she stood, or cowered rather, by the sink in her nightgown.

after a few seconds you hear the click of him turning on his body cam, saying "she came at me with a pot of boiling water." for the recording. he also nonchalantly tells his partner there's no need to get a med kit because it was a headshot. it's one of the most clear cut cases ever and it's fully recorded only because his partner did already have the body cam on throughout.

[slothlifepolitics]

I'm seeing a LOT of my fellow white queer people defending genocide in Palestine because you know as long as a Democrat is letting the trans genocide happen they might step in just enough to protect white trans people.

Republican's won't step in at all, so your scared.

Good.

Be scared.

Be very scared. You've been happily ignoring this problem, thinking voting every 2 years is enough.

Now it is coming for your ass.

White queer people have been choosing our comfort over liberation and now the consequence of that choice are coming home to roost and we are all going to pay.

We could band together and demand a better candidate but y'all won't do that because that takes effort.

So you demand we support the status quo because you want to stay comfortable. Some of us have been uncomfortable for a long time.

[horseforeplay]

tim walz is credited for the free public school lunch program that was actually a years-long grassroots campaign by the mother of philando castille. her son would pay for kids’ lunches out of his own pocket was murdered in cold blood by the cops that walz has funded and protected as they terrorize black minnesotans and their friends and loved ones with impunity (to such an extent that the department of justice found the extrajudicial killings carried out by minneapolis police to be exceptional). this election will be a special kind of hell for twin cities residents who have not seen any resolution to the summer that walz sent the national guard into our neighborhoods to fire rubber bullets at us on our porches. these people will not make our lives better. these people are not “easier to organize against”. harris and walz are blood-drenched terrorists with big cheesy grins on their faces