Around 75 demonstrators marched in New York City, blocking Broadway, in protest after videos were released of Tyre Nichols’ violent confrontation with Memphis police.
“Now we’re talking about racial justice now, but every other day of the year, they’re not willing to make any changes to policing,” New York City Council Member Chi Ossé, who represents Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant and North Crown Heights, said.
Nichols, 29, who was Black, was hospitalized and died three days after the Jan. 7 encounter with police in Memphis. Five police officers, who were also Black, were fired and are charged with second-degree murder.
Jamil Parker, 22, said he moved to New York City from Atlanta in hopes of finding a city more hospitable to young Black men, particularly from a policing perspective.
He said it has not lived up to his hopes, particularly with increased police presence in subways and in Black neighborhoods, and Nichols’ death further highlights his concerns.
“We don’t need this much policing. They’re destroying people’s lives,” Parker said.
Cities all over the United States were preparing for possible protests following the release of the videos.
In New York City, Kirby Joseph, a protest organizer, told the crowd: “We are here to say we are all Tyre.”
