Residents and lawmakers react to Tyre Nichols’ videos
Nico Rossi
EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — Footage of the fatal injuries Tyre Nichols sustained at the hands of police officers, has been released and many people are reacting.
Video recordings including police body cam footage and surveillance footage of the traffic stop and alleged beating were released to the public Friday, January 27, and citizens around the nation, including NEPA, are outraged, Pennsylvania officials say.
“Tyre Nichols should be here. It doesn’t have to be like this. It’s time for justice,” explained U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA).
On Saturday, United States Senator Bob Casey said in a statement:
Like the rest of the nation, I am horrified by the video of Tyre Nichols being beaten by police officers. Tyre Nichols’ life mattered and like so many before him, he died at the hands of those responsible for protecting and serving. My deepest condolences are with Tyre Nichols’ family as they mourn his brutal and unnecessary death. There has to be a full measure of accountability for Tyre’s death, and I support the steps that federal, state, and local officials have already taken to hold these officers accountable.”
“But mere accountability is not justice. Justice can only be achieved when our policing and criminal justice system is equal for all. It is long past time to reform a system that has been broken for far too long and cost far too many lives, and we should start by passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.”
–U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA).
The Monroe County NAACP released a statement on the death of Tyre Nichols stating:
While some try to figure out how this can work for them politically, another mother will figure out how to bury her son. While some rush to Google in hopes of finding a way to smear his life, others rush to grieve another senseless death. Some will regard the violent and inhumane treatment of a human being as just one more loss of life, while others will cry out for justice and an end to the seemingly open season on ‘just us,’. These acts cannot be normalized, and we cannot continue to accept what cannot be justified.”
“Mr. Nichols’ life was worth more than becoming another hashtag, but we mourn, again. We peacefully call for change, again. We call upon the Pennsylvania State Legislature to amend existing law that will automatically transfer cases involving deaths of unarmed citizens by law enforcement to the Attorney General’s Office or a Bipartisan Citizen’s Review Board without requiring a referral from a local District Attorney’s Office, again. We ask that law enforcement policies concerning citizen engagement be reviewed and revised, if not already the standard, to mandate that non-lethal methods be utilized unless deadly force is the ONLY resort, again. We call for leadership in law enforcement to publicly disavow these egregious and heartless interactions that continue to occur, again and again. We are all united as a community in our desire for both shared understanding and zero tolerance for police brutality. We hold our breaths and wait for someone to be courageous enough, again.”
–Christa Caceres, President of the Monroe County NAACP.
Demonstrators with the NAACP and residents from all over the nation, including the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, gathered to protest on Saturday, demanding change, to ensure what happened to Tyre Nichols, never happens again.
