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Observations about Tyre Nichols - current news from Memphis and notes [1]

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Date: 2023-01-27

Top of the diary edit to add that two Shelby County deputies have been suspended after the release of the videos:

Link: www.localmemphis.com/...

(Edited to add a personal experience, below the original comments.)

Currently the I-55 bridge is shut down due to protesters. Police are on the scene, not sure what is going on. But there are protesters on the bridge.

Link:

www.actionnews5.com/...

Many, many businesses in Memphis shut down early, including the grocery store I work for.

The video is brutal, and I hope there are charges for more police for the lack of care given to Mr. Nichols. It is brutal. I do not wish to speak to everything I saw now.

I know the neighborhood where the beating took place — I have worked there. There is a fire station right around the corner from where this took place, so why Mr. Nichols took so long to get care baffles me. Then the paramedics just standing there — beyond words.

The neighborhood is lower middle class, mostly but not entirely black. Some Hispanic, some Indian, some white. But a quiet neighborhood.

There are hospitals within a five minute ambulance drive of where this took place. Again, the lack of care is astounding.

CNN is confused by the “pole-cams”, which we call Sky Cops or Sky Cams here. There are two ways to get one of these — they are ALL OVER Memphis. The first way, live in a wealthy or upper middle class neighborhood where folks are pretty paranoid. Alternately, they are placed in high crime locations. This neighborhood doesn’t real fit either definition, but someone must have requested or paid for the Sky Cop. And someone took over the Sky Cop when things began to go down.

Also, a message from Gabby Salinas, Chair of the Shelby County Democratic Party:

The last couple of weeks have been tough for Shelby County. The moment we are in is beyond politics. As we seek justice for Tyre, we are once again reminded of the dire need of systemic structural change to make police brutality a thing of the past. Now is a time for reflection, for listening, for community engagement, for re-evaluation because what we are doing is clearly not working. The video of Tyre's murder will be released this evening. Know that we support and respect your decision to watch or not watch the video. If you do not want to watch the video. Below are some social media pointers put together by Kirstin Cheers to minimize the chances of you seeing it by accident. Please take care and protect your spirit. We have a long fight ahead of us. We have a duty to each other to make sure this doesn't ever happen again; not only in Memphis but beyond. You are in heart and prayers, Gabby Salinas SCDP chair

Edited to add: About 14 years ago, I lived in an apartment complex in the eastern part of Memphis, near I-40 and Whitten Road. Going to work one morning, I got stuck leaving the complex behind a slow rolling SUV. And I mean STUCK. I was behind the vehicle for about ten minutes, and I lived ten minutes from my store. I was pissed off. When I finally got past the SUV I gave a pretty low profile “salute”. Like right on my car door where the vinyl gives way to window. All of the sudden, the SUV accelerated and glued itself to my rear end.

I drove calmly after that. Stopped at two lights. Merged onto I-40, etc, doing 55, hoping that the SUV would tire and move on. But BANG, a silver Ford sedan jumped in front of me and forced me to stop. Several gorillas got out in plain cloths and began to harass me. Shortly I found out that they were an undercover plain-clothes Memphis gang unit. Dude saw my little salute and decided to punish me.

They charged me with running several red lights and doing over 100 mph. Silly shit. I was driving a rundown old Dodge that couldn’t handle 60 mph. Reckless driving. The same crap pulled on Mr. Nichols. I didn’t run, but yes I was scared of the gang unit crew. And I am white. (In the end, I was able to get a lawyer who got all charges lowered then dropped after I paid a fine and attended “driving school”. But it was a white privilege thing. The lawyer was suggested to me by a former Memphis police chief I used to know.)

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/27/2149732/-Observations-about-Tyre-Nichols-current-news-from-Memphis-and-notes

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