Pittsburghers gather to protest death of Tyre Nichols
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - People across the country took to the streets Saturday, including here in Pittsburgh, after officials released the video of Memphis police brutally attacking Tyre Nichols earlier this month.
Officers stood by in East Liberty as a precaution, but all was peaceful as protesters spoke out against the killing of Nichols.
Outrage is the feeling among many after what happened in Tennessee.
"I am sick of seeing innocent people being brutally murdered. We're all sick of seeing innocent people brutally murdered," Dakota Castro-Jarrett of Socialist Alternative Pittsburgh said.
A few weeks ago, five Black police officers violently beat 29-year-old Nichols, leaving him with injuries that led to his passing.
Late Friday, officials released a lengthy video of the encounter, compelling dozens of people in Pittsburgh to gather off Highland Avenue to make their voices heard.
The Party for Socialism and Liberation Pittsburgh hosted the rally. Kira Glass is one of the group's organizers.
"This can't keep happening. How many black people need to be killed in the streets before something changes?" Glass said.
The five officers in Nichols' case are charged with murder and fired from the department. Those in East Liberty see this as a step in the right direction and don't feel it would have happened if it were not for the uproar after the death of George Floyd. However, they say more needs to be done.
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"Tyre Nichols is just one among hundreds of hundreds of thousands of black men who have been murdered throughout the years, and it's time for that to end," Courtney Davis, a junior at Carnegie Mellon University, said.
"We won't stop until there's justice for every victim of senseless police violence until there are no more police killings in the first place," Glass said.
"I think that people protesting and fighting back against this racist system will continue to push for the justice and accountability that we need," Stephanie Pavlick of the Party for Socialism and Liberation Pittsburgh said.
