Beaten While He Was Down

Go to the Video: A security camera on a light pole — not police bodycam video  — gave the most damning view of the Memphis police administering a fatal beating to 29-year-old motorist Tyre Nichols after he was purportedly stopped for reckless driving.

  The Memphis police last night revealed four videos of the January 7th incident, the first showing that officers were brutal from the start, swearing at Nichols and refusing to even say why they had stopped him. When he’s on the ground Nichols is asking , “What’d I do?, What’d I do?” He was trying to cooperate and calm the cops. But they roughed him up and repeatedly pepper sprayed him in the face until Nichols got up and ran away.

  At one point during the incident you can hear Nichols saying, “I’m just trying to go home,” and later calling for his mother, “Mom, Mom, Mom.” 

  The third video is obscure — it inexplicably goes to black — but you can hear Nichols being beaten after he was tracked down and caught. It’s that 4th video from the light pole in which you can see the cops beating Nichols while he’s down. One officer kicks his head twice, like a soccer ball. Another comes in and hits Nichols with a baton while others are punching him.

  When it’s over, the cops drag Nichols over to a car and lean him in a sitting position. In the following minutes, Nichols is unable to sit up and ends up rolling on the ground in evident agony while paramedics stand by, not helping or examining him. It was half an hour before Nichols got medical attention and longer until he was taken to a hospital.

  Five officers who arrested and beat Nichols were fired and charged this week with second-degree murder. The charges also include kidnapping, official misconduct and “official oppression.” But there were more than five on the scene and no one intervened during the beating, or stepped in and said, “help this guy.”  Two paramedics and two sheriff deputies have been suspended.

  So far there is no evidence for the original reason the officers said they stopped Nichols — reckless driving. He died three days later in a hospital. 

The War Room: Russian shelling and missile attacks killed at least 19 civilians this week. Eight died yesterday in the Donetsk region. Nine other civilians were wounded.

  Regional military governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram that “The enemy is deliberately destroying our cities and towns,” and he urged people to evacuate. A new Russian offensive in the Donbas is expected, possibly within weeks.

  Russia also appears to have taken cyber revenge on Germany for deciding to send tanks to Ukraine. A surge of cyber-attacks hit the websites of German airports, the financial sector, federal offices, and the parliament. 

  Russia also announced yesterday that it will switch the four occupied regions of Ukraine to Moscow time. Moscow is one hour ahead right now.

The Pelosi Video: San Francisco authorities released the video of the hammer attack on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul. The video show’s Pelosi and his attacker, David DePape, facing the cops as they come through the door, both with a hand on the hammer. DePape wrests away the hammer and the last you see is him swinging it as Pelosi retreats and both men drop from sight.

  The police then rush in and subdue DePape while Pelosi lies motionless on the floor. Surveillance video outside the house also shows DePape breaking into the Pelosi home.

  The audio of Pelosi’s 911 call reveals him trying to calmly tell the operator that he’s in trouble without angering DePape. He says he has “a gentleman here waiting for my wife,” whom he identifies as Nancy Pelosi.

Econ 101: Intel Corp. dropped about $8 billion in market value yesterday after the chip maker delivered  pessimistic earnings projection, signaling a possible drop in the personal computer market. But Intel has also been losing market share to other chip makers.

Israel: Seven people were shot dead by a gunman in East Jeruslaem last night before the gunman was killed by police.  Violence is escalating. Earlier this week   militants in the Gaza Strip fired rockets into Israel and Israel responded with fighter jets. This came a day after Israeli troops killed nine Palestinians in a raid on suspected militants in the occupied West Bank. 

The Spin Rack: The January 6th rioter who attacked Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick with pepper spray was sentenced yesterday to six and a half years in prison. The 42-year-old Sicknick died the next day after several strokes. His assailant, Julian Khater pleaded guilty in September. — Gay and bisexual men in  a monogamous relationship will be longer be barred from donating blood, the FDA says. The ban stems from the early days of the AIDS epidemic. — The Guardian reports that Donald Trump laundered $1 million through several entities to pay for an audit of the 2020 Arizona vote in an attempt to prove that he won the state. —  Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was mocked after she was shot down with an amendment to prevent President Biden from selling oil out of the strategic reserve to ease gasoline prices. Greene didn’t understand that Biden sold when the price was high and is replenishing when the price is much lower, probably turning a profit.

Below the Fold: ABC News confirmed that it reached exit agreements with morning anchors TJ Holmes and Amy Robach, both married, after they embarrassed the network getting caught having an affair. Both have since announced they are divorcing their spouses and ABC is divorcing the two news readers. The tabloids report that Holmes had three other affairs with ABC employees and Robach is “no saint” herself. The worst thing about them is that they aren’t really journalists either.

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Thursday, November 14, 2024

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The Most Corrupt Justice

Monday, October 2, 2023

Democracy and Video in the Dark

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Monday, September 13, 2021

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Friday, August 13, 2021

Trump and the Truth

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

The “Great” President

Monday, March 30, 2020

It's Been Said

"Christians, get out and vote, just this time. You won't have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what, it will be fixed, it will be fine, you won't have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. I love you Christians. I'm a Christian. I love you, get out, you gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don't have to vote again, we'll have it fixed so good you're not going to have to vote."

  • Donald Trump courting the vote of the Christian right

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