Video footage showing the brutal beating of Tyre Nichols by five Memphis police officers in Memphis, Tennessee was released on Friday, prompting mostly peaceful demonstrations in several cities around the country.
On Sunday, justice advocates rallied outside of Escondido’s city hall over Nichols’ death, as well as Keenan Anderson, an African American man who died in LAPD custody, Jan. 3.
“Another African American has died, at the hands of African American officers. But we’ve realized that it doesn't matter the race of the officer in the blue uniform, it matters that the uniform has a culture of abusing people of color,” said Yusef Miller, executive director of the North County Equity and Justice Coalition.
Nichols, a 29-year-old father and FedEx worker, was pulled over on Jan. 7 for what police said was reckless driving. After trying to flee on foot, Nichols was severely beaten by five police officers who were Black. He died in a hospital three days later.
The five officers involved in the beating have since been fired, arrested and charged with murder.
“We saw a swift account of these five officers, they were fired immediately, they were charged immediately and they were jailed immediately then they had to be bailed out. But we don't see that on our white counterpart officers. We hear excuses,” Miller said.
Although the officers involved were fired, Miller thinks their certification should be revoked to prevent them from policing in a different department. He also thinks there needs to be an end to the qualified immunity that protects police officers from liability.
