ATLANTA — It was a fourth night of protest in Metro Atlanta after the video of the arrest of Tyre Nichols’ death at the hands of Memphis police was released.
Monday’s protest was held at the Historic Fourth Ward Skatepark next to the Eastside Beltline Trail. Nichols, a skateboarder himself, was beaten with a baton, punched and kicked during a traffic stop with Memphis police.
He died three days later.
“You want to be active. He was active skateboarding, so it should be nothing for us to be active either celebrating his life or protesting the police brutality,” skateboarder Dimitri Crippen told Channel 2′s Candace McCowan.
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The calls for reform are coming from many directions, but how to make a change is dependent on who you ask. Protesters want to stop the construction of public safety training facilities such as the proposed Atlanta police training facility, where there have been protests.
At Destiny World Church in Austell, Pastor Wilbur Purvis III hopes the change can start in his sanctuary.
“We must raise the status of black men, and I believe it begins with us and that is what happened at that moment,” Purvis said. Video from his Sunday service of men from all races linking arms, a moment he believes was needed.
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Five of the officers who were fired, arrested and charged for Nichols’ death were Black, which Purvis noted.
“What was sad about Memphis it was brothers with badges. We are accustomed to having problems with badges, but now we have brothers with badges beating on people who look like themselves, that’s problematic,” Purvis said.
A sixth officer, who is White, and a seventh officer, who has not been identified, have also been relieved of duty.
Two Memphis Fire Department EMTs and a driver were fired after an internal investigation determined they had violated multiple department policies and protocols.
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