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five memphis cops, Tennessee, African-American Ty Nichols was pulled over on January 7 for an alleged traffic violation. After removing them from the vehicle, they were pepper sprayed and attacked with a taser. Finding himself helpless, the 29-year-old tried to escape, but was caught and beaten for three minutes, with injuries so severe that he died three days later. The release of several such videos, where it is seen that it was a murder, because the victim never represented a danger to the uniformed officers, and that there was no reason to arrest him, raised a new wave. Outrage ensued, with protests against unprovoked police brutality taking place nationwide in the United States, in several cities.
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump launched his campaign for the Republican Party nomination in the battle for the White House in 2024 on the same day as thousands of Americans to demonstrate against unjustified violence by law enforcement and especially because of racist Were out constituents of these attacks (nearly a third of those killed by police in 2021 were African-American, despite the fact that this community only represents 13 percent of the population). Without a hint of remorse or self-criticism for his conduct in the Oval Office during the four years and months since he had to leave it, the magnate assured that he angrier than ever
, He then resumed his anti-feminist attacks on Nancy Pelosi, the former Democratic leader in the House of Representatives; He launched against transgender people, electric cars, Barack Obama – his predecessor – and, of course, he released a series of xenophobic lies about the immigration situation: According to him, 15 million people may be crossing the southern border illegally. many of them coming from prisons and psychiatric hospitals.
Also this week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy confirmed his alliance with Marjorie Taylor Greene, who went from minor legislator to a central figure in Washington by joining the Homeland Security and Oversight Committees (responsible for auditing the federal government). Until recently, Taylor Greene was viewed by her fellow caucus as a flamboyant and unprincipled figure for her public endorsement of wild conspiracy theories, her statements in favor of run His harassment of a prominent member of the Democratic Party and survivor of a mass shooting at a school. In February 2021, she was removed from legislative committees in which she participated, after posting an image of her on social networks in which she carries an assault rifle next to three African-American congressmen and displays the legend Progressives’ Worst Nightmare
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It is impossible to separate police brutality and institutional racism from the normalization of figures like Trump or Taylor Greene within American politics, because the presence of such characters in the highest echelons of power emboldens and creates a sensation (at times, unfortunately rightly so). ) gives. For both officials and citizens tainted by hate speech. The fact that the five officers who killed Tyr Nichols were also black adds another nuance to the rampant social decomposition experienced in the United States, showing how internalized discrimination is, and even is, that among people of their own descent, African-Americans do not identify themselves as safe from racial profiling, That is, being suspected of a crime and being persecuted for the color of their skin.
While the American outlook leaves no room for optimism, it is hoped that the Nichols tragedy will be a catalyst for a movement of deep reflection and moral renewal that ends the scourge of racism and state violence in the world’s richest nation. ,
