NAACP Reacts to Newly Released Video of Tyre Nichols’ Brutal Death at the Hands of Police

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 27, 2023

Contact: Trovon Williams, trwilliams@naacpnet.org

BALTIMORE — Today, the Memphis Police Department released footage of the brutal beating by police which led to Tyre Nichols' death earlier this month.  NAACP President & CEO, Derrick Johnson, reacted to the newly released footage with the following statement:

"I am disturbed and disgusted by the sheer brutality and lack of humanity on display in the footage released today. No person should ever be subjected to such violence, to have to call for their mother as they are being brutalized by police.  This video is a stark reminder that in America, on any day of the week, a Black person can be brutally beaten to death less than a hundred feet from his home by those who are supposedly here to 'serve and protect' our communities.  Let me be clear - a traffic stop should not result in the brutal death of an unarmed man - period. 

Now that the footage has been released: how much more bloodshed will it take before Congress acts? How much more trauma and tragedy must the Black community experience in order to spark real change? The police officers involved have been expeditiously charged – but that is far from enough to ensure justice for Tyre.   We need action that ensures no one must ever experience or witness this kind of violence at the hands of law enforcement ever again. 

To all members of Congress: As you leave the halls of Congress today and return to your comfortable homes, take a moment to think about the pleas for mercy that Tyre cried as he begged for his mother, and ask yourself the question; what if this was your child? Your continued failure to act has left Tyre's blood, and the blood of the countless Black lives claimed by police violence on your hands. Get up and do something. We are done dying."

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ABOUT NAACP

Founded in 1909 in response to the ongoing violence against Black people around the country, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) is the largest and most pre-eminent civil rights organization in the nation. We have over 2,200 units and branches across the nation, along with well over 2M activists. Our mission is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons.

NOTE: The Legal Defense Fund – also referred to as the NAACP-LDF –  was founded in 1940 as a part of the NAACP, but separated in 1957 to become a completely separate entity. It is recognized as the nation's first civil and human rights law organization and shares our commitment to equal rights.