Tyre Nichols vs George Floyd; tame protests as BLM, Antifa downplay new killing

Eliyahu Tulshinski

February 2, 2023

The nation braced for violent protests after video was released showing the brutal, prolonged and fatal beating of motorist Tyre Nichols by Memphis police. Nearby Georgia issued a state of emergency order, authorizing the call up of 1,000 National Guard troops. The violence didn't come.

Toned-down

Saratoga Black Lives Matter (BLM) leader Lexis Figuereo reacted to the beating death of Tyre Nichols with a call for political change:

We are a super minority. We need representation. We need people who are actually going to fight for things that we need.

BLM's tame comments were matched by their lack of mobilization for protests over Nichols' death. Protests were sparsely populated and extremely calm, even on the day of his funeral.

Exceptions

One BLM leader was caught saying, “F--- peace . . . We ain't never taking violence off the f—king table!” at a Nichols protest.

But even this activist only said that violence is not “off the table”. He did not call for protestors to come in direct physical conflict with law enforcement. After George Floyd's death, though, BLM activists were "ready to put police in ****ing graves" and to “burn the ****ing White House.”

At least one Antifa activist did call for violent protests, demanding that their comrades burn it all down."

The low turnout and low-key publicizing of the protests, though, showed a general lack of interest in creating violent riots even among Antifa leaders. That lack of turnout and violence cannot be attributed to a lack of resources.

BLM and Antifa Organizational Capacity

Police department data regarding the protests over Floyd's death revealed more than 14,000 arrests in 49 different cities in May and June 2022, including charges for murder and throwing Molotov cocktails at police vehicles, according to the Washington Post. Nineteen people, including a police officer, died in or around the protests. The more than $1 billion dollars in property damage made these the most expensive riots in insurance history.

The protests were so widespread that the New York Times posted a map showing protest hot spots throughout the nation in a story headlined, “How Black Lives Matter Reached Every Corner of America”. Independent journalist Andy Ngô documented the roles of BLM and Antifa in leading the Floyd protests.

What's different?

Nichols died from internal injuries caused by the many blows he received from officers, mostly after he was already subdued. Floyd, on the other hand, died from a heart attack that may have resulted from his drug intoxication.

The autopsy revealed that Floyd had fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system at the time of his death. The autopsy also found that Floyd, 46, had “severe” heart disease, and that he died of a heart attack. The autopsy ruled that the fentanyl (“fentanyl intoxication”) and the meth might have contributed to his fatal heart attack. The autopsy also called his death a “homicide".

The official autopsy “revealed no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation.”

at one point in the audio Floyd says something about “I was hoopin’ earlier.” “Hooping” in the Urban Dictionary refers to the practice of transporting contraband in the rectum. There’s a loop or “hoop” on the capsule which is hooked for fishing out when you get to your destination.

So, one possibility is that this was an accidental fentanyl overdose. Somehow in the retrieval process, some of the stuff got into his system, and since fentanyl is 100x stronger than heroin, that spelled his doom. He joins the 50,000+ other fentanyl overdose deaths in the U.S. each year. (Incidentally, he also had 100 ng/mL of morphine in his blood: heroin metabolizes down to morphine, so he also had a healthy dose of that in him earlier.)

Nichols had no known criminal record of any kind and was apparently stopped without probable cause, while Floyd, who had a “violent criminal history” and served time for assault and robbery, was stopped for passing counterfeit money.

Nichols was just 150 pounds while Floyd, who was known as “Big Floyd,” was 6 feet 6 inches at his tallest and weighed 223 pounds. Nichols did not lie to police, while Floyd repeatedly lied to officers and refused to show them his hands multiple times.

What to worry about

Most Black parents do not need to worry that their child will develop a violent criminal record, pass off fake money while intoxicated on drugs, resist arrest and suffer a heart attack related to the drug use.

It is indeed realistic, on the other hand, for minority parents to be concerned that their son may have no criminal record, not be intoxicated in any way, get stopped without cause while driving and be subjected to police brutality.

The Nichols death is thus something that should resonate with every minority parent. And parent or not, everyone who believes lives matter should be deeply concerned by the police conduct in the Nichols case.

BLM and Antifa

A Reddit thread asks: “Tyre Nichols: is the reason there are no protests or rioting because the five cops are black?”

While there have been some protests, is their subdued nature due to the skin color of the officers? Why is BLM not calling for protests for a change in the system that incentivizes traffic stops in the absence of any danger to the public? Stops which carry the risk of physical confrontation? Stops which disproportionately affect minorities?

Hands tied

BLM, having been founded by Marxists, and Antifa, deriving its name from “a group called Antifaschistische Aktion, founded in May 1932 by Stalinist leaders of the Communist Party of Germany,” are not able to argue for smaller government as a solution to police brutality. The very statutes incarcerating violators of statutory regulations of guns and controlled substances, and allowing random stops, are supported by Marxists and Stalinists. Lenin was particularly interested in criminalizing gun possession.

In Tsarist Russia, people loved guns. Officers, merchants, students, respectable dames, and young ladies all had a favorite handgun, sometimes more than one. However, by the end of the 1917 Revolution the authorities had restricted the right to carry firearms.

The disproportionate effect of such regulations on the Black community is dramatic.

42% of all people arrested for weapon offenses in the United States were Black, while Blacks accounted for . . . 26% of arrests for all other offenses [and make up just 14% of the population]. [Emphasis added].

BLM nonetheless supports criminalizing gun possession. And in addition to those Blacks actually in violation of a crime against the state for “possession” of banned items like guns, drugs or unregistered vehicles, some of those charged may have been the victims of illegal searches and fraudulent police reports, as was the case with motorists illegally stopped, robbed and falsely charged by seven rogue officers in Patterson New Jersey.

What can BLM do?

Unable to oppose big government and its harm to the Black community, something which may have saved Nichols' life, BLM is relegated to opposing something that could not have saved Nichols - white supremacy.

By persisting in delusional community-driven solutions, BLM is undermining what many still see as its primary purpose: protecting minorities. And how can we take [BLM Global Network Foundation Board Member D’Zhane] Parker seriously when he asserts that Nichols’ death was part of a ‘dangerous cycle of white supremacy . . . ?

Even before the claim of black officers acting out of white supremacy, people of color, like columnist Ryan Bomberger, felt that BLM needlessly politicizes race.

[H]ere are the top 10 reasons why I will never support the #BlackLivesMatter movement. The premise isn’t true. I hate racism. And I hate when it’s used as a political weapon.

What can BLM stop doing?

The Federalist argues that BLM is not just failing to help the Black community; they're endangering it, and not just with support of regulatory crime bills. Their article, “Without Black Lives Matter, Tyre Nichols Might Not Have Died In Memphis Last Week,” explains the role of BLM.

Two of the five police officers charged in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols were hired by the Memphis Police Department after it relaxed its hiring requirements. . . . [P]olice officers were quitting at unprecedented rates across the country to escape such a hostile environment, and departments were struggling to meet minimum staffing requirements. . . .

While a shortage of recruits is no excuse for relaxing hiring standards for cops, it is a product of disastrous dynamics the Black Lives Matter movement and leftist elites have cultivated.

Without BLM

Some legislators are moving forward to protect minority communities without waiting for BLM's cooperation.

Police in Washington would be barred from pulling over drivers for minor issues like broken tail lights or expired tabs under a measure now before the state Legislature.

Why it matters: It's part of an effort to limit low-level traffic stops, which critics say too often escalate into violence — especially against Black, Hispanic and Indigenous people.

BLM Grassroots vs. BLM

BLM Grassroots is also not waiting for BLM to act, instead advocating for the end of police led traffic stops. BLM Grassroots member Megan Castillo wants civilian Department of Transportation personnel to conduct traffic stops.

We want to pull police officers out of traffic stops and other places they don’t belong, like housing, schools and parks. Black people are more likely to be stopped, searched and arrested. We incur greater fines which result from these traffic stops. Disparities can lead to tragedy. We need civilian first responders dedicated to traffic and road safety, and equipped to serve our communities unarmed.

Corrupt law enforcement

Please see our earlier articles on selective prosecution and other forms of corrupt policing: