Muslim groups in the US are calling for systemic law enforcement reform at the local, state, and federal level after the police killing of another Black American man, 29-year-old Tyre Nichols, on Jan. 7.
The US Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO) released a written statement on Tuesday stating that they welcomed the Memphis police department and local prosecutors’ relatively quick action to dismiss and charge the perpetrating police officers.
"Again, another helpless victim was killed while surrounded by heavily armed men, pleading for mercy and calling out to his mother – whose home, was less than one hundred yards away. Again, a group of rogue police officers, after a pretextual traffic stop, dragged a man from his car, and delivered brutal blows, boot kicks, and punches to his body," the statement said.
"A militarized police officers has beaten to death yet another unwell man (Tyre suffered from Crohn’s disease that had reduced his six feet three frame to an emaciated hundred and forty-five pounds), and in the crucial time afterward did not deliver care to him for more than twenty minutes," it added.
The statement stressed that all sectors of society seek rigorous legislative reforms by limiting law enforcement at the local and federal levels and bringing attention to the country's lengthy and fatal contact with the police, particularly with Black Americans.
- 'Stop pattern of violence'
"Black Americans are calling for strict federal and state legal restraints – or even wholesale apparatus changes – at every level and the ratification of staunchly enforced, scrupulous safeguards for all the public in their policing interactions with the state.
"This means we must create the means to end the far too prevalent culture of aggression and dehumanization of Black people. It matters not whether the offending officers are White, Black, or of other races. Cultural problems validate aggression against its minority populations," the statement said.
It noted that their group supports efforts to reform laws, policies, training, and departments to stop this pattern of violence and save lives across America.
Nichols died on Jan. 10, three days after being beaten by five police officers during a traffic stop in Memphis in the state of Tennessee.
A video released Friday showed the five officers pulling over Nichols and throwing him to the ground, trying to cuff him and using a taser before he tried to run away but is later caught and beaten.
Nichols is heard calling out “Mom!” as officers punch, kick him in the face, pepper spray and strike him with a baton before his body goes limp.
