China News Service, January 30th, a comprehensive report, after the release of the video of Nichols, an African-American man in Memphis, Tennessee, who was killed by police violence, thousands of people across the United States took to the streets to demonstrate against police violence. , and called for police reform.
According to US media, the tragedy of violent law enforcement against African Americans has repeated itself, highlighting the "systematic failure" of the United States.
According to reports, at noon on the 29th local time, a large number of protesters marched in Milwaukee, the largest city in Wisconsin.
One of the organizers, Peace Action Wisconsin, said in a statement on its website that "justice must be served for Nichols and all victims of police violence" and demanded "police accountability and transparency."
The protesters said, "Only the people can end the regime of police terror suffered by African Americans. We need to demand justice through large-scale demonstrations."
In addition to Wisconsin, protests were also held on the 29th in Alaska, Illinois, Connecticut, Florida, Missouri, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.
In addition, protests also broke out on the 28th in Phoenix, the largest city in Arizona, Baltimore, the largest city in Maryland, and Dallas, the third largest city in Texas.
Local protesters in Memphis said they had "had enough of the long-term violence and corruption of the local police" and said "it's time for a change."
The "Boston Globe" of the United States pointed out that in the Memphis incident, the five police officers involved in the interception, pepper spray and beating of Nichols were all African-American. "We should not be surprised by this." Violent law enforcement against African Americans should also not be misunderstood as an example of racial discrimination against African Americans, which actually reflects the "systemic failure" of the United States.
The newspaper said a broken system was behind Nichols' death.
In this chaotic system, American police routinely turn routine traffic into violent confrontations with unarmed citizens.
This ties in with structural racism within U.S. law enforcement.
In 2020, George Floyd died in Minneapolis due to police brutality, which triggered the largest demonstrations in American history and a wave of national reflection.
Less than three years later, the same tragedy happened again.
The newspaper further pointed out that the proposed reforms at the federal level cannot save Nichols' life, and only a fundamental change in the normalized punishment system in American social culture will make sense.
It is reported that the Memphis police released a video of Nichols, a 29-year-old African-American man beaten to death by the police, on the 27th local time.
The video shows that Nichols was stopped by several policemen involved in the case on his way home on the 7th of this month because of dangerous driving. During the pursuit, the two sides clashed. Nichols was beaten for up to 3 minutes. He once He complained of dyspnea and was sent to the hospital for emergency treatment. He was pronounced dead less than 3 days later.