According to CNN, “Five former Memphis police officers who were fired for their actions during the arrest of Tyre Nichols earlier this month were indicted on charges including murder and kidnapping, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy announced Thursday. The former officers, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills Jr., have each been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two charges of aggravated kidnapping, two charges of official misconduct and one charge of official oppression, Mulroy said. … The criminal charges come about three weeks after Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, was hospitalized after a traffic stop and ‘confrontation’ with Memphis police that family attorneys have called a savage beating. Nichols died from his injuries on January 10, three days after the arrest, authorities said.”
First, allow me to say that I make no judgments about the veracity of the allegations or the incident itself. Actually, I am utterly indifferent to yet another situation of rogue policing. But I find it supremely curious that these particular five police have met the swiftest justice I’ve ever seen after police abuse surfaces. I wonder why this situation is different. Why oh why are these five so different that within a mere short three weeks after the death of someone at the hand of police brutality, they are charged with murder? What could it be? What could possibly be the one aggravating fact that rushed these five to jail when let’s say whitey usually doesn’t meet justice for months or years, if at all? Does anyone have a guess? Anyone at all? Don’t be shy. Take a guess. Wrong answers are fine. Could it be that these five cops are Black? Of course, it is. Whereas a white cabal of police would probably never meet justice — and certainly not within a month — it seems people could not wait to convict these five minority police. Naturally, this also feeds right into racists’ beliefs about the Black community, for this is not a case of police brutality and holding police accountable for their actions. No! To racists of America, this is just another example of Black-on-Black crime. Welcome to stupid America!