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Internet thinks cops who murdered Tyre Nichols are racist, but then gets mired in its own theory

A user claimed, 'Doesn’t matter the color, the fact this happened period is wrong. the same police had a list of complaints to internal affairs'

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE: The Internet is discussing if Tyre Nichols's murder can be considered racist as black police officers attacked a black man. On Thursday, January 26, five Memphis police officers were suspended and arrested in connection with the alleged murder. The claimed event occurred on January 7, after Nichols was on his way home from taking pictures of the sky when he was stopped at a traffic stop for alleged careless driving. 

According to USA Today,  Ralph Richard Banks, law professor and faculty director of the Stanford Center for Racial Justice claims, "Black people and Black police officers can carry with them some of the same understandings or views of Black people as white police officers might. There’s nothing that immunizes them.”

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Experts' opinion regarding culture and racism in Nichols's death 

Malcolm Ruff, a trial lawyer with Murphy, Falcon & Murphy claims, "Absolutely it is the race of the suspect that matters most," he said. "It's the historically biased culture of policing that killed [Nichols]." He then added, "It seems there is always a swift action when the officers are Black. That’s very telling." Another expert, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn said, "It takes off the table that issues and problems in law enforcement [are] about race. It is not. It is about human dignity and integrity, accountability, and the duty to protect our community. And as this video will show you, it doesn’t matter who is wearing the uniform, that we all have that same responsibility. So it takes race off the table. But it does indicate to me that bias might be a factor also in the manner in which we engage the community."

Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change opined, “What this illustrates is that we do have a deep problem that is beyond black and white and it’s about blue. It’s about the nature and the infrastructures of policing in this country that every single day send a message." Hans Menos of the California-based Center for Policing Equity stated, "We don’t need to know the race of the officers to know we have five officers with no supervision in a community and asked to make cases," he said. "This is what's slowly coming out here." "Study after study has found Black people are more likely to be stopped, more likely to be searched, more likely to be assaulted, more likely to be killed. I don’t think you can say this is not about race because the officers are Black,” she said. “There is nothing in our country that is divorced from issues of race. Neither is this," said Anna Schwartz, professor at UCLA School of Law. 

'Internal racism is real!'

The Internet quickly reacted to this discussion. Exavier Pope, Host of 'Suit up' news tweeted, "For people saying “but the police who killed Tyre Nichols are Black, how is that racist?” crowd, anti-Blackness is cultural phenomenon shared across racial and ethnic backgrounds. John Singleton told y’all that 32 years ago." "And if the officers were white, their names and pictures would not have been released so quickly. We would be fighting to get info on them. What these officers did was so wrong and they should pay for this horrific crime but don’t you find this fact disturbing? I do," wrote a user. Another claimed, "Doesn’t matter the color, the fact this happen period is wrong. The same police had a list of complaints to internal affairs is alarming, to know the police dept ignored for a year against those officers. They could have prevented Tyre’s death if they did the right thing!."

Author L Michelle Smith wrote, "It’s the overseer energy from the plantation! Black people can be some of the most exact deliverers of anti-Blackness on the planet. If we don’t value ourselves…other ourselves, this is what happens— and the violence happens in workplaces. I wrote about it in #NoThanks." Judi Love tweeted, "Internal racism is real!" "It's so real, and you ask any Black man over 40 about his dealings with Black cops...," stated a user. Another wrote, "BLM marchers in Memphis are chanting that the police are racist All of the officers involved in the arrest and the suspect are black. How does that make any sense?" A user claimed, "They’re just murderers No big deal, hey… at least the police that murdered that poor man in the street, were not racist… just doing their jobs?"

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.