The Michigan Legislative Black Caucus is calling for a renewed push on policy and legislation that targets addressing police brutality following the death of a Tennessee man at the hands of officers in early January.
Tyre Nichols, 29, was severely beaten by five officers with the Memphis Police Department during a traffic stop for alleged reckless driving on Jan. 7. Officers pulled Nichols from his car before using pepper spray and a stun gun on him.
Though Nichols broke away, he was was quickly detained again by police, who proceeded to beat the man for roughly three minutes while Nichols was restrained.
Following the altercation, Nichols was hospitalized in critical condition. He died on Jan. 10.
It’s Nichols’ death that has reinvigorated the conversation surrounding how police interact with people, specifically Black men and women.
“This inhumanity, this injustice, this pernicious sacrifice of black bodies is neither new nor unique. ... Every time the public bears witness to such brutality, there are outcries for change, calls for justice, platitudes of ‘this is not who we are’ – but it is,” Sen. Erika Geiss, D-Taylor, said. “It keeps happening. It is time for us to acknowledge: This is the system that is.”
In the Michigan legislature, that could mean critically examining policies like potentially banning the use of no-knock warrants or making sure when an officer leaves a department, especially when cases of misconduct are involved, that their disciplinary record follows them.
They’re amid some of the handful of bills both Democratic and Republican lawmakers introduced last session pertaining to police-reform efforts, which came following the deaths of several Black individuals at the hands of police, including Minneapolis’ George Floyd and Kentucky’s Breonna Taylor.
Bills also came following the death of Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old Congolese man, was shot and killed by a Grand Rapids police officer during a traffic stop April 4. But those legislative efforts surrounding police reform either died in the committee process or never received a hearing.
“The system is working the way it was designed to work,” Geiss added, “and that the thing needed most is accountability. ... There will be no justice without accountability.”
Geiss was joined by the likes of other Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday, Jan. 31, including House Speaker Joe Tate of Detroit, Sen. Sarah Anthony of Lansing, Rep. Donavan McKinney of Detroit, Rep. Stephanie Young of Detroit, Rep. Amos O’Neal of Saginaw and others in calling for immediate action on the subject.
Young, especially, was emotional in explaining how the video released of Nichols’ death affected her as the mother of two sons, one age 24, the other 25.
Nichols’ last words were to call out for his mother three times.
“Mama – they grow up saying that, but it’s usually ‘I’m hungry.’ It’s usually, ‘can I get a new pair of shoes, mama?’ But hardly ever is it when you’re about to take your last breath at the hands of someone who was supposed to protect and serve,” Young said, through tears.
Rep. Donavan McKinney, D-Detroit, noted he was the youngest Black legislator at the Capitol – only a year older than Nichols.
“That could have been me. It could have been my younger brother – it could have been my one-year-old son,” he said.
With a Democrats not only controlling the House but Senate and governorship, McKinney said Black lawmakers were not going to take their positions lightly this term, and would be “working on these issues, diligently and intentionally, to really deliver some reprieve and some relief.”
Anthony added that the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus and its allies had plans to “rededicate ourselves to introducing robust policy to address the issues of police brutality in the state of Michigan.”
The caucus would also be partnering with grassroots organizations “who are interested in pushing an agenda that makes safer communities for everyone.”
For a legislature with a number of historic firsts – including first Black House speaker in Tate, first Black Senate president in Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist, and herself as the first Black woman to chair a legislative appropriations committee – Anthony, like McKinney, added this was the time to act.
Whoever is willing to partner with us will have a seat at the table to do just that,” she said. “That includes Republicans ... Democrats, independents, people in all walks of the state, all walks of life – join us, or watch progress happen without you.”
Their push, however, comes shortly after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s 2023 State of the State address, wherein she touted investing $1 billion during her tenure to public safety. As part of her remarks, she called for continuing to fund “law enforcement with better training, oversight, and access to mental health resources.”
Asked if that was a message the caucus would also support, Anthony noted that “funding goes so far.”
“There are so many professions that require professional development and training – and there’s some work that needs to be done with law enforcement,” she said. “But I would be remiss if I looked at that video this weekend, and thought that anyone was trained to act like that to beat someone to death.
While she did acknowledge there was a place for addition training around cultural competency and de-escalation: “Some of this is going to be looking at another human being crying out for help and seeing a human.”
“That is something that isn’t embedded in any training,” Anthony said.
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