"What we can tell you about the video - it is appalling, it is deplorable, it is heinous, it is violent, it is very troublesome on every level." Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump insisted the entire nation would soon get to see for itself the video footage of the
arrest that led to the death - a few days later - of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols following a traffic stop.
For now, we have been left with those words, and with another powerful, jolting connection: the footage reminded Crump of the video of the notorious 1991 police beating of Rodney King.
As Crump pointed out, King did survive his beating, at the hands of white police officers in Los Angeles three decades ago.
Nichols, allegedly assaulted by up to five Black police officers in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was shocked, pepper-sprayed, and treated like "a human pinata", did not. After days and days of public pressure, the officers were charged with second-degree murder.
This story is from the January 28, 2023 edition of The Independent.
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This story is from the January 28, 2023 edition of The Independent.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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