Tyre Nichols complied and the cops still beat the shit out of him. what was he supposed to do next

of course he tried to get away. what would you have done?

here’s what we know: cops pulled Tyre Nichols over for ‘driving recklessly’ (there is no recorded proof of this), pulled him out of his car and pushed him to the ground.

here’s what we don’t know: why.

per the Washingon Post:

“Okay, you guys are really doing a lot right now, stop,” Nichols says as multiple officers pin him to the ground and tell him to turn around and put his hands behind his back. “I’m just trying to go home!”

An officer warns Nichols, who is already on the ground, “Man, if you don’t lay down — ” to which Nichols responds “I am on the ground!”

Michael Harriot @michaelharriot

If they say “get on the ground”’and you get on the ground, say “I’m on the ground” and you STILL get tased and pepper sprayed. What else are you supposed to do but run? So much for that whole “if he only he had complied” narrative.

exactly.

put yourself in Tyre’s place here. you’re on the groud, you’re complying and you’re still getting the shit beat out of you. cops are screaming conflicting orders at you and tasing you and pepper spraying you.

what would you have done in this situation?

taken the beating, or tried to get away?

and of course when the cops caught up to Tyre they beat him to death.

for what?

what kind of fucked up system of law enforcement do we have here?

---

I have known cops. Some were genuinely good people who really did want to ‘serve and protect.’ others were psychopaths who got off on wielding maximum authority and woe to anyone who didn’t immediately comply.

many years ago I wrote on a message board “wanting to be a cop should disqualify someone from being a cop.” that was a reductive and deliberately trollish statement, but somewhere in there is a ring of truth