A small but spirited crowd braced the cold Friday evening and trekked to downtown Atlanta to protest the death of Tyre Nichols, who died following a brutal encounter with five police officers in Memphis, Tennessee.
The crowd of roughly 50 formed shortly after the city of Memphis released more than an hour of body camera footage showing the graphic incident. Nichols, 29, died Jan. 10, three days after the violent encounter with the officers, who have since been fired and charged with second-degree murder among other crimes.
“We want to make one thing very clear, no executive order and no National Guard is going to stop the people for fighting for justice,” said Zara Azad, among those gathered at the corner of Marietta Street and Centennial Olympic Park Drive. “We do not fear them because we are for justice.”
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
As of 9 p.m., the National Guard had not been deployed downtown. However, dozens of troops were seen in the afternoon setting up equipment and arranging armored vehicles in parks near the state Capitol.
An executive order from Gov. Brian Kemp allowed him to deploy up to 1,000 National Guard troops if violence broke out. He told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution the setup was precautionary and that troops were just on standby.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Ahead of the video release, Mayor Andre Dickens urged anyone gathering in response to avoid a repeat of the prior weekend, where protests over the future Atlanta police training center turned violent and prompted half a dozen arrests.
“I know there will be protests in our city,” Dickens said in a video posted to his Instagram account, adding he wanted “to make sure that we are vigilant about making sure that violent instigators don’t get the final word and don’t co-op peaceful protests for their own political aims.”
Those who gathered after the video release expressed outrage but did so peacefully.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
”Tyre Nichols committed the crime of existing as a Young Black man in the United States,” said Kristen Butler.
”Just looking at the body camera footage of this video of Tyre Nichols, there’s a resemblance of how they did Rodney King back in 1992. Kicking and stepping on him like he was nothing,” Dijuan Rollins said.
The videos’ release prompted statements from several Atlanta institutions and leaders, including Morehouse College, Martin Luther King III, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock and both Kemp and Dickens. Kemp called it “painful footage,” while Dickens described it as a “vile and brutal attack.”
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Rev. Ray Washington expressed his sadness in having to once again stand up against police violence. But even though he has to now stand up for the family of Nichols, he said there has to be unity within the community in order to truly get justice.
”I was there for Rayshard Brooks. I was there for George Floyd,” Washington said, referencing the deaths of other Black men while in police custody, incidents that sparked widespread protests. “I was there to march.”
