Congressman Cohen Statement after Viewing Police Video in Tyre Nichols Case
MEMPHIS – Upon his return to Memphis from Washington, D.C., Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) had a private screening of the police body camera and other video connected with the January 7 police beating of Tyre Nichols just before it was made public Friday night, and released the following statement:
“It is overwhelming to watch. It’s clear that Tyre Nichols died because of the brutality and callous disregard, really an appalling lack of humanity, of the Memphis police officers. From the first encounter with the police, it’s clear this was about ego. There was no respect for Tyre Nichols and no answer to his simple question asking what he’d done. They were not there to serve and protect, or even to apprehend; they were there to punish and dominate. Early in the video of the first interaction, one of the officers can be heard saying ‘let’s give him a stomping,’ or ‘let’s stomp on him.’ That showed the mentality, and the other officers seem to embrace it and then go to it.
“After Tyre Nichols fled, there was no effort to de-escalate and calm the situation. Instead, the ‘pack’ mentality of these officers was about inflicting vengeance with no regard for Tyre as a human being. With Tyre on the ground, one officer punched him two or three times in the head, another kicked him repeatedly in the head for no reason, and another struck him again and again with a baton. When Tyre was obviously terribly hurt, they leaned him against a car and left him while they chatted and sometimes even laughed. They were apathetic and callous about his injuries. They were in no hurry to render aid to the man they had beaten. They were more interested in themselves. This includes not only the officers charged so far but the other officers on the scene who rendered no aid to a grievously injured man as he lay handcuffed on the ground.
“Tyre should be at home right now with his family, he should be having dinner with his Mother, he should be skateboarding. Instead, these ‘police officers’ took everything from him. The charges are appropriate. Justice for Tyre.”
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