'A public lynching': Eric Garner's daughter slams Memphis police over Tyre Nichols' arrest video
STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK: The release of a violent video from the traffic stop on January 7 that shows how police brutality led to the death of Tyre Nichols, 29, on Friday was denounced by the daughter of Eric Garner who claimed that it is comparable to a "movie premiere". Five Memphis police officers were fired after the violent incident, and they are now being investigated for a variety of charges, including murder.
The Memphis police department released the body cam footage on Friday, which has outraged the nation and triggered protests around several states. Prior to the release of the video, Police Chief Cerelyn Davis in a statement had described the video as “heinous, reckless and inhumane” and at the same time urged the community not to react violently.
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"Tonight was a direct show of how they do things. You held the video, why couldn't the family get their closure at the moment they needed it? It had to be controlled by the system like, 'we’re just going to hold it, and then we're going to bring it out with the charges'", said Emerald Snipes-Garner on News Nation.
Slamming cops for holding the video, she further added, "...no you held it like it was a premier of a movie that needed to be watched by the world. A public lynching." As per Emerald, Tyre Nichols' police beating might not have taken place nearly nine years ago, if her family had received justice.
Emerald further said that the video was a "replay" of what happened to her father and "it's just ridiculous." She said about her family that 'justice' in their father's case was a "slap in the face and there was no justice." She added, "In this case of Tyre Nichols, justice was swift. If we would have had that in 2014, would there have been a Tyre Nichols today? I don’t think so,” Emerald Snipes-Garner said.
Garner, 43, died in Staten Island, New York, in July 2014 after being put in an illegal chokehold by NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo. Bystander video captured Garner's struggle to breathe and his cries for help, “I can’t breathe,” a phrase he repeated 11 times, became a national rallying cry against police brutality.
Following Garner's death in July 2014, a Richmond County grand jury made the decision not to indict Pantaleo, and he remained on the force, behind a desk, until 2019 when he was finally fired. Emerald further said that Nichols' family needed help and mental health support.