Civil rights leaders say acquittals in Tyre Nichols’ death highlight the need for police reform

By ADRIAN SAINZ JONATHAN MATTISE and GRAHAM LEE BREWER MEMPHIS Tenn AP After three former Memphis police officers were acquitted Wednesday in the beating death of Tyre Nichols neighborhood and civil rights leaders expressed outrage over another disappointment in the long push for police improvement Nichols death at a traffic stop more than two years ago sparked nationwide protests and renewed calls for systemic change as the first post-George Floyd circumstance that revealed the limits of an unprecedented reckoning over racial injustice in Black America Now Wednesday s acquittals again show the need for reforms at the federal level civil rights leaders noted Tyre and his family deserve true justice not only in the courtroom but in Congress by passing police overhaul law once and for all NAACP President Derrick Johnson posted on social media Traffic stops should never be a death sentence and a badge should never ever be a shield to accountability The Rev Al Sharpton who spoke Wednesday to Nichols mother and stepfather announced they were outraged Justice can still be delivered Sharpton added in a report referring to the officers upcoming sentencing in a federal civil rights episode Tyre s death was preventable inexcusable and tragic Nichols was on his way home on Jan when he was stopped for an alleged traffic violation He was pulled out of his car by officers one of whom shot at him with a Taser Nichols ran away according to video footage that demonstrated him brutally beaten by five officers An autopsy ascertained he died from blows to the head Three officers were acquitted Wednesday of all state charges including second-degree murder in the fatal beating All five officers the city of Memphis and the police chief are being sued by Nichols family for million A trial has been scheduled for next year Let this be a rally and cry We must confront the broken systems that empowered this injustice and demand the change our nation and Tyre s legacy deserves announced civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump who is representing the family in the lawsuit FILE This combination of images provided by the Memphis Tenn Police Department shows from top row from left Police Officers Tadarrius Bean Demetrius Haley Emmitt Martin III bottom row from left Desmond Mills Jr and Justin Smith Memphis Police Department via AP File After Floyd s murder by a former Minneapolis police officer states adopted hundreds of police adjustment proposals creating civilian oversight of police more anti-bias training and stricter use-of-force limits among other measures But federal reforms in the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act have been stuck in Congress without enough bipartisan assistance to get enacted during the Biden administration The Nichols scenario sparked a -month federal probe into the Memphis Police Department which uncovered a host of civil rights violations including using excessive force making illegal traffic stops and disproportionately targeting Black people Last year police traffic-stop reforms put in place in Memphis after Nichols death were repealed by GOP Gov Bill Lee despite pleas from civil rights advocates One of the ordinances had outlawed traffic stops for reasons unrelated to a motorist s driving such as a broken taillight and other minor violations Lee echoed arguments from Republican lawmakers who declared Nichols death needed to end in accountability for officers who abuse power not new limits on traffic stops Speaking after Wednesday s acquittal Shelby County District Attorney Steven Mulroy declared Our office will continue to push for accountability for everybody who violates the law including if not especially those who are sworn to uphold it If we re going to have any silver lining from this dark cloud of both the event itself and in my view in the modern day s verdict it has to be that we need to reaffirm our commitment to police overhaul he mentioned Thaddeus Johnson a former Memphis police commander and a senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice noted Nichols beating and Wednesday s acquittal compound wounds from generations of policing problems in the majority-Black city I do believe that transformation is local but I do believe this has kind of put a black eye on things Johnson explained the AP People feel like police cannot be held accountable Or they won t be held accountable Andre Johnson a pastor at Gifts of Life Ministries in Memphis and a society activist noted he was disappointed but not surprised at the verdict It is extremely arduous to convict officers even when they are on camera he explained calling the acquittal a loud and clarion acknowledgement that certain groups of people do not matter For a lot of people who have had engagement with police officers the message is loud and clear that even if we get you on camera doing what you did to Tyre that you cannot face justice Brewer communicated from Norman Oklahoma Mattise disclosed from Nashville AP writer Travis Loller in Nashville 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