Tyr Nichols’ stepdad calls for peace: ‘Violence won’t bring our son back’
Tyre Nichols’ stepfather has called for peace as protests erupted across the country on Friday over the fatal police beating of the father of one child.
“Violence will not bring our son back” – Rodney Wells. said Al Sharpton on the MSNBC program PoliticsNation on Saturday..
“And people who are violent, they do it on their own.”
Memphis cops released a disgusting video of a “shameless” death beating Friday night, sparking angry demonstrations in cities across the country, including Memphis, New York and Los Angeles.
Friday night in Memphis, the demonstrations were mostly peaceful in keeping with the Nichols family’s demands, though some protesters questioned why the family was unwilling to fight back by force.
“I disagree with the family. They are calling for peaceful protests… but when are we going to start fighting? When will we start to act? This was announced by 47-year-old Danny Gatewood.
“I pray for the family. But I believe that if this happened to my son, I would not call for peace, ”added the local business owner and father of two.
“Scripture calls an eye for an eye.”
In New York, the protests really escalated into violence.
A shocking video shows a man stepping on the hood of a police car, shattering the windshield in Times Square. An NYPD officer was also punched in the nose during a heated brawl.
Learn more about the Post’s coverage of Tyre Nichols’ beating death.
Three people were detained at the tourist center.
Days before the video’s release on Friday, officials signaled the footage was likely to spark an uprising of rage reminiscent of the 2020 killing of George Floyd.
Memphis Chief Police Officer Serelyn Davis even compared her officers’ “disgusting” actions to the infamous 1991 LA cops beating of Rodney King.
On Saturday evening, cities braced themselves for another night of potentially violent protests.
Body camera footage released Friday night shows Nichols – a 29-year-old father with no police file – kicked, punched and pepper sprayed after police pulled him over for alleged reckless driving on Jan. 7.
Three days after the beating, Nichols died from his severe injuries in the hospital.
The five police officers involved – Tadarrius Bean, 24, Demetrius Haley, 30, Emmitt Martin III, 30, Desmond Mills Jr., 32, and Justin Smith, 28 – were charged with killing Nichols and turned themselves in to law enforcement in Thursday.
They face charges of aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, misconduct and official harassment in addition to second-degree murder.
Rodney Wells told MSNBC that he originally wanted the cops to be charged with first-degree murder, but has since maintained a second-degree charge.
“What we don’t want is to appear before the court, and they got off with formalities. They seem to have an ironclad argument, so we want to push it forward,” he told Sharpton.
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