The death of Tyre Nichols, a black man, at the hands of five Memphis police officers, has the entire western world confused. Having lived through the George Floyd episode, we know exactly how this would have played out if the officers were white. But they weren’t. The officers were black..So, how should the media and the public react? It is clear that no one knows what the script should be. Though some have tried, a racist angle obviously doesn’t work. How can the five black officers credibly be accused of racism?.So, should the script be a reprise of “defund the police”? That was all the rage during the drama of the year long George Floyd protests, but it has since been thoroughly debunked. In cities, such as Chicago and New York, both the murder rate and general crime rate rose alarmingly when witless politicians actually did “defund the police”, and now law and order politicians are once again being elected. Chicago’s radical “defund the police” Mayor Lori Lightfoot will probably go down to defeat for exactly this reason..So, if “defund the police” doesn’t wash, how should the media play it?.How about trotting out the “systemic racism” canard? The line can be that even though the five police officers were black, they were working within a hopelessly systemically racist system, so it was the system that killed Tyre Nichols..But such specious reasoning would appeal only to the most gullible..Or how about the real answer: “None of the above”..There will be investigations and inquiries to determine whether or not these particular police officers acted improperly or improperly. There might be criminal charges and a trial. But for now, nobody knows whether they are guilty or not guilty. Opportunistic politicians or media cowboys who jump in and prejudge the case should not be listened to. Let the investigations proceed..But let’s get something straight here. Policing is a tough business. As a judge of three plus decades I have heard many cases involving high speed chases, and other adrenaline-soaked situations where a police officer is forced to quickly react in a highly volatile atmosphere, where the officer knows that his life is in danger. What the experts told me in such cases is that the primitive part of the brain takes over. This is life and death — the chemicals shoot through the dinosaur brain, and the only instinct is to survive alive..That’s why in high speed chase cases, it is not unusual to see officers brutally punching a person they have subdued only after their lives have been dangerously close to ending. Their basic instincts are playing out. It looks ugly, but put yourself in their place. I, for one, wouldn’t want their job..And in this age of instant videos, there is the illusion that short video clips can tell us everything we want to know. Nonsense on stilts. Very often the exact opposite i the case. That short clip can be entirely misleading..So, what is the verdict on the Tyre Nichols case. Is it racism, police brutality, or any of the dozens of other theories that are being put forward by confident pundits on all the networks?.Again, the answer is “None of the above”..The truth is that we don’t know. These officers might be guilty, negligent, or not at fault at all. Let’s not pretend that our televisions and phones have given us the answer. Let’s not listen to opportunistic politicians and pundits blather on about things they know nothing about. Lets not prejudge these men. Instead, let’s let the system carefully work, so we can get the right answer..That’s called Justice..Brian Giesbrecht is a retired Manitoba Provincial Court Judge.
