Death of Tyre Nichols revives calls in Congress for policing reforms
Protesters rally against the fatal police assault of Tyre Nichols, outside of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center in Detroit, Michigan, on January 27, 2023. – The US city of Memphis released January 27, 2023 graphic video footage depicting the fatal police assault of a 29-year-old Black man, as cities nationwide braced for a night of protests against police brutality. Five Memphis officers, also all Black, were charged with second-degree murder in the beating of Tyre Nichols, who died in hospital on January 10 three days after being stopped on suspicion of reckless driving. (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP) (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)
Jeff Kowalsky | Afp | Getty Images
After officials in Memphis released graphic footage Friday depicting the death of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, at the hands of police, members of Congress said Sunday they need to revive their effort to pass substantial police reforms.
The five officers involved in the deadly encounter were charged with murder, kidnapping, assault and other charges on Thursday. All five officers were dismissed from the police department, and the specialized policing unit they were a part of was disbanded Saturday.
Police reform talks fell apart in Congress in 2021 after lawmakers failed to strike a bipartisan deal. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Sunday that while passing those reforms would be “the right starting point,” it is ultimately “not enough.”
Durbin said that while he knows law enforcement officers risk their lives for Americans every day, many of these same officers are engaging in “horrible conduct” that needs to be changed for the better.
“What we saw on the streets of Memphis was just inhumane, horrible,” he told ABC’s “This Week.” “I don’t know what created this rage in these police officers that they would congratulate themselves for beating a man to death. But that is literally what happened.”
Durbin added that he would not rule out a federal investigation into the entire Memphis Police Department following Nichols’ death.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said he thinks that while there is reform that can happen, no amount of legislature could account for the “evil” and “lack of respect for human life” that he saw in the footage. He said he does not believe those five officers represent the vast majority of law enforcement.
“We’ll look at what we think makes sense to help this, to make sure they have the proper training, but no amount of training is going to change what we saw in that video,” Jordan told NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday.
Some policing reforms were already in place in Memphis at the time of Nichols’ death, including a requirement for officers to de-escalate situations where they saw others using excessive force. Ben Crump, the attorney representing Nichols’ family, said Sunday he thinks the culture of policing is to blame, as it has normalized the use of extreme force.
“Just as much those officers are responsible for the death of…
Read More: Death of Tyre Nichols revives calls in Congress for policing reforms