Memphis police beating video shows the kind of "training" one expects from the proposed building of that urban warfare training camp in Georgia

 

Last week a Hispanic environmental activist, Manuel Esteban Paez Terán, who was camped in a forest outside of Atlanta with other activists protesting the destruction of 85 acres of forest land to create a mock “cop city” where police would train for apparent “urban warfare,” was shot and killed by police in an action that those who have studied environmental activism in this country are calling "unprecedented." Police claimed that Terán…

 

…fired at and wounded a police officer, but other activists camped at the scene claimed they only heard a single volley of multiple shots, and called the killing of the activist (who was described as being “gay” and espousing non-violent action) an “assassination.” No bodycam footage of the shooting was released, and claims that a gun was found on Terán was derided as being planted by police who actually wounded one of their own by chaotic “friendly fire.”

Other activists camped out in the forest were arrested and charged as “domestic terrorists.” Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has declared a “state of emergency” and the activation of the National Guard. Kemp is being accused of overreacting with typical Republican “law and order” bluster overriding community concerns and police blackmail. The extensive Weelaunee Forest is regarded as being “vital” to combating greenhouse gases locally, according to environmental activists, and Atlanta residents charge that the “leasing” of 85 acres by the city to create the “mock city” will only create a practice field for urban warfare by “militarized” police, and lead to more police abuse.

One might suspect that Kemp’s actions were taken a week after the shooting not in fear of relatively peaceful protests by environmental activists, but of the potential for violent protests in the wake of the release of the Memphis video in the beating, and subsequent death, of a black man named Tyre Nichols. These five police officers have been charged with murder:

 

We often see mass protests after black men are shot or beaten by white police officers, but what makes this incident stand out is not only are the accused black police officers, but the shear deliberateness of brutality we see in the video released today; the officers themselves appear to be the real “gangsters” on the street to be feared. 

Some may question why Nichols didn’t “cooperate” initially with police; he doesn’t respond to commands, appears to try to walk away at one point, tries to keep the officers from handcuffing him. We can surmise that he believes he hasn’t “done anything,” but that never stopped a police officer from abusing his or her power to kill—remember the case of former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger, who admitted that when she “mistakenly” burst into Botham Jean’s apartment (believing it was hers even though she was on the wrong floor) her intention was to kill first and ask questions later.

“Training” doesn’t always lead to following approved procedures as we saw  in the Guyger case, as she completely ignored her training on how to “handle” a situation where a man is sitting in his own living room eating ice cream; she just burst in with gun blazing. It really depends on the character of the officer, doesn’t it? Some people choose the profession because they like being bullies, and wearing badges gives them the power to operate with impunity. 

I remember when I was working at the airport, I got on the bus to Renton to go to Fry’s Electronics when it was still open, and was walking down a sidewalk literally minutes after I got off the bus when I was surrounded by four police cars, and was detained with the accusation of committing a bank robbery that had just occurred. I told the officers I just got off work and had only just arrived in town; one of the officers claimed that I fit the description  of the robber, and to “prove” it he called someone for “confirmation”: a 5-10 white man with a  beard and wearing dark clothes.

I pointed out that the only part of that description I fit was wearing dark clothes, meaning my airport uniform that was clearly marked with the name of the company I worked for. Yet while the real bank robber was getting away, I had to wait there for about 15 minutes until a witness arrived in another police car, where I could see her shaking her head. Seconds later I was all alone, the contents of my backpack strewn all over the ground, and no apology by police given.

It was the “suspicion” of a white female officer who had been trailing behind me that led to this detainment, and I suspected that the other officers were just trying to humor her because they knew I wasn’t likely the suspect that they were looking for, and I certainly wasn’t giving them an “excuse” to start beating on me. But whatever “defense” the Memphis police officers can concoct for their actions was undercut by the shear brutalness of the beating they administered on Nichols:

 

 

While the actual violence was brief, we can see one officer repeatedly kicking Nichols in head, and another repeatedly beating on his head with what appears to be a nightstick.

The nonchalant attitude of the police involved also makes it appear that this was just another day in the park for this kind of activity, so it begs the question of just how many other such beatings were administered not just by these officers, but by other officers. This occurred in a relatively “nice” neighborhood, not a gangster-infected center of urban blight, so what the hell were these officers thinking? 

Well, we don’t really have to “wonder” do we? This entirely senseless incident is just the kind of thing people are concerned about what will be “taught” with the building of that urban warfare "training" center outside Atlanta.