FREE//GRATUITO
PUBLISHED BY ACCIÓN LATINA
February 9-22, 2023
Vol. 53 No. 3
COPS OF COLOR DON’T KEEP US SAFE, ABOLISH THE POLICE
En respuesta al asesinato de Tyre Nichols a manos de la policía, habitantes del Área de la Bahía se manifestaron y marcharon en Oakland el 29 de enero de 2023, exigiendo justicia para Nichols, quien murió tres días después de haber sido golpeado brutalmente por cinco policías negros en Memphis, Tennessee, el 7 de enero de 2023. Responding to the murder of Tyre Nichols at the hands of police, people from all over the Bay Area rallied and marched in Oakland on January 29, 2023, demanding justice for Nichols. Nichols died three days after being brutally beaten by five Black police officers in Memphis, Tennessee on Jan. 7, 2023, following an unjustified traffic stop. Photos: Jeremy Word
UNA POLICÍA DIVERSA NO ES GARANTÍA DE SEGURIDAD, ABOLIR LA POLICIA EDITORIAL Staff
W
El Tecolote
hen George Floyd was murdered by police on May 25, 2020 — his death was captured on video by bystanders and shared widely via social media — we hoped for real change. We hoped to never again see such brutality. Our hope was real. It pushed the idea of police abolition further into the mainstream than ever before. But without action from those in power, police killings continued. And now added to the list of people who should still be alive is Tyre Nichols. Nichols, a 29-year-old father, skateboarder, and aspiring photographer, was beaten by five Black police officers in Memphis, Tennessee on Jan. 7, 2023, following a traffic stop that not even police have been able to justify. Nichols died three days later. While officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills, Jr., all took turns beating Tyre, he called out for his mother. It was a detail we learned when the body cam and street surveillance videos were released on Jan. 27. But even before the videos were made public, Memphis’ police department scrambled to get ahead. The five
EDITORIAL Black officers were fired on Jan. 20, and only charged with second-degree murder and kidnapping six days later. Since then, one more officer, Preston Hemphill, who is white, was fired, as were three members of the Memphis Fire Department who failed to provide aid to Nichols after he was beaten. What followed the release of the video — which was on the heels of the police killing of Manuel “Tortugita” Esteban Paez Terán and Keenan Anderson, just to name a few — were the marches and the renewed calls for justice in the form of abolition. Meanwhile, politicians and elected officials across the country, many who have increased police budgets despite public cries to redirect funds from police to other vital services, were ironically quick to condemn the actions of the Memphis police officers. San Francisco’s District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, who has refused to hold police accountable for the killings of Black and Brown men in our own city, seized the opportunity and tweeted: “As a Black woman & member of law enforcement, I feel a greater obligation to treat people with dignity & respect in this role. What I witnessed was mob violence & abuse of power.” Kevin de Leon, the lone remaining See ABOLISH, page 8
Equipo
T
El Tecolote
ras ocurrir el asesinato de George Floyd a manos de la policía el 25 de mayo de 2020 —un muerte fue grabada en video por transeúntes y compartida ampliamente a través de las redes sociales— esperábamos un cambio real. Esperábamos no volver a ver semejante brutalidad. Nuestra esperanza era real. Impulsó más que nunca la idea de la abolición de la policía. Sin que los gobernantes tomaran medidas preventivas, los homicidios a cargo de elementos policiales continuaron. Y ahora, se añade a la lista Tyre Nichols. De 29 años de edad, ese padre de familia, aficionado a la patineta y aspirante a fotógrafo, fue golpeado por cinco policías negros en Memphis, Tennessee, el 7 de enero de 2023, tras detenerlo en tráfico, una parada que ni siquiera la policía ha podido justificar. Nichols murió tres días después a causa de las hemorragias. Mientras los agentes Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin III y Desmond Mills, Jr. se porales de los agentes y los del sisteturnaban para golpearlo, Tyre llamaba ma de vigilancia callejera. a su madre, un detalle que conocimos Incluso antes de que estos se hitras difundirse públicamente el 27 de cieran públicos, el departamento de enero, los videos de las cámaras cor- policía de Memphis se apresuró: Los
cinco agentes fueron despedidos el 20 de enero y solo acusados de asesinato en segundo grado y secuestro hasta seis días después. Desde Vea ABOLIR, página 8