5 original officers fired and charged with 2nd degree murder for participating. 2 additional officers facing discipline for doing nothing. and now 3 EMTs have been fired for not intervening. Oh, and the SCORPION unit was disbanded, not that it will do any good. But police reform is unnecessary.
I saw a thing on Twitter that I am not certain is true, but the claim was that Tyre was dating an ex of one of the SCORPION officers, and that the officer even sent pics to his ex of Tyre all busted up. I haven’t seen any reporting or corroboration of this. I’ve been wondering about the EMT’s. A previous report said paramedics showed up. Those guys usually are associated with the Fire Dept., and tend not to have the highest opinion of police. It’s hard to think that a paramedic would sit back (unless racism), while I believe EMTs could be intimidated.
Wouldn't surprise me at all. In Memphis, one of the roads to political power is (or was) through the schools (Superintendent, school board, etc.). But the real power, a legacy of White flight, is with the police and fire department unions. Back in 2008/9/10 when Memphis was dealing with the GFC and shrinking budgets, the police union said they needed more funds. Members of the city council said they needed to slash everywhere. So, MPD slow-walked emergency calls in the districts of the city council members who voted for cutting the budget. The local paper actually got data on that, but after the budget favoring the police had been approved. Shortly later, there was a re-negotiation of the fire department contract for the same reason - shrinking budgets. In the MFD, there actually were stations closed. But MFD pulled the same tactics as the MPD, and got most of what they wanted. And who got screwed? The schools. Obviously. But what has happened in the past is that there have been fires in Memphis which needed police escorts. That said, the reporting seems to indicate that the EMTs made no attempt to get to Tyre. That is probably the difference in why they got fired.
Like you said, Fire and Police fight over the same pot of money. They also have some turf scuffles, where police try to tell Fire what to do, even though Fire *tends* to be much more professional, and actually are well-trained in what they do. This really feels like an execution, and that EMTs didn't bother to attempt to help makes me think that this is not an uncommon occurrence. They were probably given "the code" on their way in.
Just saw on CNN and we've seen this plenty of times. The initial police report said Tyre was the aggressor and one of the murderers was the victim. JFC. Of course no mention of the vicious beat down. Cops & their brass are irredeemable.
Tyre was 6'3" and like 150 lbs & had Crohns disease. 2 or 3 roided up and angry poleez could've easily handled him. So as rslfanboy pointed out - I'm leaning toward a purposeful govt lynching of this poor guy.
Does anyone want to know Jason Whitlock's perspective? “Everybody involved in this on the street level was either 24 to 32 years old. Everybody. It was a group of young Black men, five-on-one. Looked like gang violence to me,” he began. “It looked like what young Black men do when they’re supervised by a single Black woman.” Ciara Responds To Jason Whitlock’s “Irresponsible” Comments Against Black Women (msn.com)
Jason Whitlock has become increasingly irresponsible as he's aged. Ignore anything in this video that looks even remotely stereotypical of a certain demo of Black women. Not watching it myself for that very reason. But 400 years of miseducation will do that to a people. Have to uplift before we can deal with the stupid shit.
We really need a panel of Black men to address folks like Whit(e)lock without resorting to waving of perfect-nailed hands, sucking of teeth, rolling of necks, etc. Unfortunately, most of the guys I'd want on it (Colin Powell, Julian Bond, President Obama, Justice Marshall, Rev. Proctor, Rev. Butts, Harry Edwards, Kareem, etc... I'm not insistent on leaving out athletes or clergymen, as long as they are well-thought and not dependent on faith to make decisions) are dead.
No. I have absolutely no idea who Jason Whitlock is. (looked him up, nope, still don't know who he is and I really don't care to know)
Was a respected KC sports reporter who I used to see on The Sports Reporters with Dick Schaap, Lupica, Ryan, Wilbon. Then became a Fox News shucker for Tucker at some point. Part of the reason I tuned in, besides being a sports nerd, was to see the ways Mitch Albom would try to cover up his enormous jughandles
Black males get less scary as they get older, white men dont. I mean, for whites, that middle bar is actually higher than the first bar!
As I was thinking about this, one thing which came back to my memory was a couple of students saying they wanted to joint the police to make money. Not from the paycheck, but from all the shakedowns and protection rackets. One said that there were a lot of current gang members in the police as well. This was mildly corroborated by one of the news stations (reporting on a place where young Blacks could get a job in Memphis).
Whitlock is just a cynical opportunist who has burned most other bridges and his only remaining shtick is whatever the ******** this is. At least back in his ESPN years he was embarrassing in an unintentionally funny way.
I remember him on ESPN being profoundly UNinsightful nearly every time he offered commentary about any sport. Good for him that he has branched out with his lack of insight into the world of politics and culture. One would think that the market was at capacity in terms of how much junk thinking it could absorb, but apparently not.
I found him even more annoying on ESPN. I despise the way they conduct themselves and the way they do their sets. I am and have for some time been looking for a sports show that treats me like an adult instead of like a child. I don't need bright colors or loud music. Can I get just one ********ing show that's geared toward adults who don't think of sports contests as some kind of break from reality? A Face The Nation except dealing with the institution of competitive athletics instead of politics?
There is so much we could learn about our culture and society by taking sports seriously. But the sports media absolutely refuse to do so.
Well, I think the fans have something to do with it as well. They aren't asking for better. They treat sports like an escape instead of as a part of life.
A colleague in the history department is teaching a course on sports and history. The 3rd and last book they read is this one, which I just ordered. . . Next up, number two... and one I'll be reading with them, I hope... Yesterday the class put on an exhibit of "original rules" basketball (the original 13 rules, 9 vs. 9, complete with peach baskets and a step ladder to retrieve the ball after a score. It was a blast to watch.