The Black Men who Took Part in Tyre Nichols’ Death were Acquitted because They were Cops

Your race doesn’t matter. If you have a badge, there’s a good chance you can get away with killing Black people

By Carron J. Phillips

Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith should be remembered in the same way as Stacey C. Koon, Laurence M. Powell, Theodore J. Briseno, and Timothy E. Wind. This is Rodney King all over again — but worse.

On Wednesday afternoon, three former Black Memphis police officers were acquitted in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols. “An out-of-town jury from a majority-white county took about 8 1/2 hours over two days to find Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith not guilty on all charges after a nine-day trial in state court in Memphis, which is majority-Black,” read a report from the Associated Press.

Despite the nationwide outrage that happened in response to the attack, coupled with the country’s ability to watch footage of what took place, the (Black) cops got off.

Almost exactly thirty-three years ago (April 29, 1992), four former Los Angeles police officers were acquitted for the beating of King. “Culminating a month of legal maneuvering and probing questions, a jury of seven men and five women –– none of them black — was chosen Monday for the trial of four white police officers accused in the beating of black motorist Rodney G. King,” read the 1992 Los Angeles Times coverage.

Despite the nationwide outrage that happened and the country’s ability to watch footage of what took place, the (white) cops got off.

Racism. Rinse. Repeat.

Every generation of Black America has an iteration of this magnitude. A vivid and violent wake-up call that metaphorically spits in your face. Its purpose is to keep you in check. It’s meant to make you fear for your life any time you see a cop car behind you. The message is always received.

I was seven years old when I watched King get beaten over and over on the nightly news in 1991. It was the first time I understood what it means to be Black in America, and what role the police play in that. I learned that things aren’t fair, and that even when something feels fundamentally wrong, it doesn’t guarantee it will be made right.

Before learning to divide or multiply, I understood I’d always “fit the description.”

On Wednesday, another generation of Black kids learned the same lesson I did 34 years ago.

To be clear, this is not a declaration that all cops are bad. This is not a statement deeming police as inessential. It’s an assertion that Black and white law enforcement members have never earned the benefit of the doubt. In the words of the legendary football coach Bill Parcells, “You are what your record says you are.”

The most infuriating part about this — leaving aside the senseless loss of Tyre’s life and how the Nichols family has been changed forever — is the additional evidence that police unions and law enforcement organizations will never have trouble finding people who will advocate for them in moments like this; who will “spin” atrocities like a public relations agent.

“This case is a case that started with officers doing a legal investigation, having probable cause to stop a motorist, having probable cause to put him in handcuffs and search him, and then everything falling apart from there when Mr. Nichols would not cooperate,” said Haley’s attorney, Stephen Leffler, in court.

It’s how Jason Van Dyke, the former Chicago cop who killed Laquan McDonald on video, served less than half of his nearly seven-year prison sentence. Or how, just months ago, Elon Musk and Ben Shapiro were given the space and consideration to float the idea of having President Trump pardon Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis cop who kneeled on George Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds on video.

Let’s not fool ourselves. “To protect and serve” is a wonderful slogan. It’s also one of the greatest examples of false advertising we’ve ever known, given that what you look like plays an oversized part in determining if your life is deemed valuable enough to aid and defend; to protect and serve.

“Was I surprised that there wasn’t a single guilty verdict on any of the counts or any of the lesser-included offenses, given the overwhelming evidence that we presented? Yes, I was surprised. Do I have an explanation for it? No,” said Memphis District Attorney Steve Mulroy, in one of the whitest answers ever uttered.

More often than not, cops will back cops. Their unyielding loyalty to the profession of their choosing is at the heart of why police reform is almost impossible. However, the less-examined, more long-lasting side of this stems from white America’s eternal unwillingness to recognize that facts and evidence aren’t cornerstones of justice. The O.J. Simpson trial is a great example. If that case didn’t teach you anything, it’s because you didn’t want to learn.

In the coming years, there will be another situation where a Black person loses their life due to the unnecessary and violent actions of some white and/or Black police officers. There will be videos, evidence, and outrage. Eventually, the offers will be acquitted, and people will wonder why it happened. And when that day comes, someone will mention Tyre Nichols or Rodney King. Not merely because of history’s echo in those cases, but as an attempt to explain the precedent that has long been established by a system that will still work in the way it was intended to.

Carron J. Phillips is an award-winning journalist who writes on race, culture, social issues, politics, and sports. He hails from Saginaw, Michigan, and is a graduate of Morehouse College and Syracuse University.