Portland protesters are up in arms about five former Memphis police officers who are now facing seven federal charges — including second-degree murder and aggravated assault after a traffic stop that led to the brutal beating of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols. Tyre Nichols, a black man, was brutally killed by three black cops in Memphis, Tennessee on January, 7. Tyre’s parents, who have been invited to attend Biden’s State of the Union speech on 7 February, said Tyre was driving home after photographing the sunset.
The preliminary results of an autopsy commissioned by attorneys for Nichols’ family said he suffered “extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating,” family attorney Benjamin Crump said this week. Police reported that they stopped Nichols for reckless driving, but Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis said early Friday morning an investigation and review of available camera footage found “no proof” of that. Another release, the city on Friday night released body camera and surveillance video of the January 7 traffic stop and beating that led to the fed ex drivers death three days later in the hospital.
Portland protestors took to the streets. of demonstrators gathered and marched in Portland on Friday night following the release of video that shows the deadly arrest of an unarmed man in Memphis earlier this month. There were no reports of damage or violence during Friday night’s protest. Dozens gathered at the Oregon Convention Center at around 7 p.m. before marching south along the sidewalks of Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard a half hour later. The group later joined a vigil that was being held at the Burnside Skate Park under the east end of the Burnside Bridge, where a vigil was being held.
Portland is now known for taking to the streets to bring attention to Black lives being brutalized and killed by law enforcement. The grouped in Portland swelled to hundreds as they marched north on Grand Avenue chanting Tyre Nichols’ name. Soon after, the group, or part of it, marched onto the Burnside Bridge. Just before 9 p.m., the marchers had appeared to stop on the bridge, effectively blocking traffic, but a short time later they marched off the bridge and entered the west side of Portland. They made a stop at the Justice Center and then re-crossed the Burnside Bridge.
Portland leaders, including Mayor Ted Wheeler, gathered earlier in the day following the release of the body cam footage to denounce the brutal beating and call for peaceful demonstrations. “I support those who wish to exercise their right to be heard, and I understand their deep concerns,” Wheeler said Friday. “I also want to echo the request of Tyre’s family and urge the community to do so peacefully in a nonviolent manner.”
