LatinoJustice Statement on the killing of Tyré Nichols

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 27, 2023

Press Contact:
Sarai Bejarano | Manager of Traditional & Digital Media | [email protected] | 212-739-7581 

LatinoJustice Statement on the killing of Tyré Nichols

The following statement can be attributed to Lourdes M. Rosado, President and General Counsel, LatinoJustice PRLDEF:

“The broad outlines of the recording of the death of Tyré Nichols at the hands of five Memphis police officers are all too depressingly familiar. Although they knew they were being recorded, the officers brutalized Nichols because they clearly assumed their supervisors and the public would support their actions. Time and again, authorities tell us we’re wrong to blame the institution of policing for these murders. That’s what we were told after the deaths of George Floyd in 2020, and Anthony Baez in 1994 at the hands of New York police, the 2021 deaths of Adam Toledo by Chicago police and Mona Rodriguez by Long Beach police, and countless more. The Memphis officers were all, like Nichols, Black, demonstrating once again that the problem is in the very marrow of the institution of policing, and the system cannot be reformed. Instead of increasing funding for more cops, more overtime and more surveillance tech, as federal and local authorities have done, we must reduce the size and power of police departments across the country to reduce police violence against our communities.” 

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 About LatinoJustice
LatinoJustice PRLDEF works to create a more just society by using and challenging the rule of law to secure transformative, equitable and accessible justice, by empowering our community and by fostering leadership through advocacy and education. For 50 years, LatinoJustice PRLDEF has acted as an advocate against injustices throughout the country. To learn more about LatinoJustice, visit www.LatinoJustice.org