“Reaction” and “action”: About fifty protesters gathered last Friday night in Memphis, Tennessee. United States of Americademand justice after the video was posted violent arrest Tyr Nichols, a young African American who died three days later.

“What are you going to do,” a protester yelled over a loudspeaker in downtown Memphis’ Martyrs’ Park to the city’s police chief.

Arrest footage of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols shows him being brutally beaten by five black police officers after what was to be a routine search in a large Tennessee city on Jan. 7.

After 18:00 (local time, after 02:00 Greek time) several dozen protesters chanted “without justice there is no peace.” They blocked the city road, forming a traffic jam.

“We decided to come here tonight because the (Tyra Nichols) family asked us if we were going to protest, to protest peacefully,” activist Eljay Abraham said.

“Open your eyes”

The march continued over a bridge connecting the two banks of the Mississippi River and blocking four lanes of traffic.

For David Stacks, a Memphis resident who came to the protest, the death of Tyree Nichols “should unite everyone, open the eyes” of African Americans.

Not all of the protesters were from Memphis, some had traveled to the city from nearby states in anticipation of the video’s release.

For Monica Johnson, a 24-year-old activist who moved there from Atlanta, what matters now is that the police are “held to account” and that all officers involved are convicted.

“We demand that the Scorpion squad, which included the police officers who beat Tyre Nichols, be disbanded,” he added.

Although authorities feared riots following the release of the video, the situation in downtown Memphis remained calm in the evening, with shops open.

“Fear”

There were police patrols on the streets of the blues capital of the world yesterday morning, some on horseback, but mostly tourists.

Robert Waters, an African-American musician, traveled to Memphis to compete in a blues competition. But fearing trouble, the 67-year-old retired soldier decided to leave before the video was released.

“You have a right to think these days that things like this can’t happen,” he said, referring to Tyree Nichols’ brutal beating.

“I am black in America. And this fear is what my son and I grew up with,” he added.

He added that the fact that all the cops involved were black “hurts” him, it’s a “big disappointment”.

“It shows that anyone can fall into the lust for power trap,” according to Robert Waters, but in any case, Tyree Nichols “should not have” died like this, “period,” he added.

^{Source: APE-MEB, AFP.}