Very recently, Americans viewed footage of a disturbing encounter between Tyre Nichols and five police officers in Memphis, Tennessee. Each of the police officers were seen beating Nichols, which eventually led to his death three days later.
Since then, all of the officers has been fired and brought up on criminal charges. Meanwhile, police bureaus throughout the United States have condemned the actions of the officers, stating what they did was wrong and is not a representation of good, moral police work.
On top of that, there have been mass protests across major cities throughout the United States. Many Americans are furious about what happened and are leading calls for greater police reform to prevent future occurrences.
In the midst of it all, MSNBC commentator Al Sharpton weighed in on what transpired, according to Fox News.
Sharpton’s Hot Take
By Sharpton’s own admission, he believes if Nichols were a white man, rather than a black man, he would not have been beaten by the now-former Memphis police officers.
Sharpton’s remarks about the murder of Nichols come in spite of the fact that all police officers responsible for his death are black. This has led to many people questioning why Sharpton would choose to make this about race.
Al Sharpton at Tyre Nichols' funeral: "If [Tyre Nichols] had been white, you wouldn't have beaten him like that on that night."
Ps- He was killed by 5 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 police officers 👮🏿♂️👮🏿♂️👮🏿♂️👮🏿♂️👮🏿♂️
pic.twitter.com/73YUfYkIn3— Trevor Coult MC (@TrevorCoultMC) February 2, 2023
However, the MSNBC commentator also weighed in with additional thoughts about the larger police force in Memphis. Per Sharpton, it is his view that Memphis police officers act differently in whiter parts of the community than they do in communities with a majority of black folks.
Later, Sharpton urged against the use of violence; however, he also strangely alleged that violence is actually what police officers want. In actuality, though, much of law enforcement has been bracing itself for potential acts of violence targeted at them, due to the actions of the former officers in Memphis.
Adding to a Negative Climate
Within recent years, the American people have already witnessed a rise in folks turning against police and not trusting them.
What the five officers in Memphis chose to do to Tyre Nichols only worsened already-existing problems. It’s gotten to be so bad that many police officers are leaving the force, retiring, and urging others to consider doing the same.
Al Sharpton suggested Tyre Nichols would be alive today if he was white.
Because black police officers are racist but only against other black people.
Yeah that makes perfect sense.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 1, 2023
Ultimately, society suffers when large swaths of Americans do not trust the police. Meanwhile, with fewer law enforcement officers on the beat, criminals are emboldened to hurt people with a greater likelihood of evading accountability.
Do you agree with what MSNBC commentator Al Sharpton had to say about the death of Tyre Nichols? Since the victim and all five perpetrators were black, do you believe race played a role in what happened? Please feel free to share your thoughts with us below in the comments area.
This article appeared in The Conservative Brief and has been published here with permission.
