If Ben Crump, America’s No. 1 attorney in illiteracy, gets what he wants, kiss the right to due process — or what’s left of it — goodbye. If you’re suspected of committing a crime, particularly if you’re a police officer in the line of duty, pray you don’t see his face. It will be all but a death sentence.
Crump last week said that the Memphis Police Department’s response to the death of 29-year-old black man Tyre Nichols is “the blueprint for going forward” in matters of police confronting black suspects. By that, he apparently means firing, arresting, and prosecuting cops based on whatever half-baked narrative Crump puts out with hopes of getting a multimillion-dollar settlement with the city — all before law enforcement has had a chance to release any materials in its own defense.
Here’s what allegedly happened in the run-in between Nichols and the police: He was stopped by multiple cop cars on Jan. 7 for, police said, reckless driving; he was pulled from his car, but while officers attempted to subdue him, he broke free and fled the scene; after police were able to apprehend Nichols a second time, he allegedly continued to struggle and multiple cops appear to have taken turns beating him. Those details are apparent in the videos released by authorities on Friday.
But while Crump wants cable news opinions on incomplete footage of a confrontation with police to be the “blueprint” for firing and convicting cops, it might be helpful — fair, even — to get
