Tyre Nichols was allegedly brutally beaten to death by several Memphis police officers, and it was all caught on tape. As a former prosecutor and state attorney general, I customarily reserve judgment even when incidents are video recorded — as proper investigations to ensure fair play do take time and patience.
In this case, however, I do not think it much of a stretch to say the video makes it clear that the police officers involved will go to jail, the city of Memphis is going to pay out millions of dollars to Nichols’ family, and the Memphis Police Department is going to undergo severe and public scrutiny — reflecting its responsibility in the failed training and supervision of these rogue officers. This is accountability as it should be.
Yet, as has become the usual practice, Congress is now being called upon again to enact federal legislation to reform policing — ostensibly to prevent another Tyre Nichols or George Floyd or Rodney King tragedy from occurring.
Had the officers who appeared to beat Nichols to death been white officers, these calls to Congress would have been accompanied by broad assertions of systemic racism and the disproportionate targeting of black victims. But in this instance, with the primary offending officers all appearing to be black, the usual specter of race as a motivator takes a backseat to what is readily apparent — these are just bad cops.
Thus, a proper question is: What should happen now? Do the circumstances of Nichols’
