NYCDS releases statement on Tyre Nichols Death
January 28, 2023
Contact:
Lupe Todd-Medina, ltoddmedina@nycds.org, (917) 202-0116
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
STATEMENT FROM NEW YORK COUNTY DEFENDER SERVICES ON TYRE NICHOLS DEATH
(NEW YORK, NY) –Stan Germán, Executive Director at New York County Defender Services, issued the following statement:
“As human beings, we are devastated and horrified by the footage exposing the violent death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis police officers. But as public defenders, we are not completely surprised.
Every day we hear stories from members of our community detailing how they are violently abused and dehumanized by law enforcement.
Tyre’s death is further evidence of what big city public defenders see every day: cops use violence, or they lie, or they falsify evidence, then the system extorts jail or prison sentences from people whose primary crime is being Black or brown, or being in the midst of a mental health crisis, or being unhoused. These problems are systemic and intransigent, not just the work of isolated bad actors.
This is why we will never stop fighting against police violence and standing up for the human and civil rights of accused people.
New York County Defender Services stands in solidarity with every person marching in the streets this weekend. They march in anger and frustration because another Black life has been cut short by the systemic racism and callousness that spawn our unrelenting police violence. They demand true change with an abiding respect for human dignity. Justice and common decency mandate that we give it to them.”
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New York County Defender Services is a public defense firm serving New York City’s most vulnerable communities since 1997. We zealously defend people accused of crimes in Manhattan’s Criminal and Supreme Courts, at no cost to the accused.