{"id":16731,"date":"2023-02-03T10:38:04","date_gmt":"2023-02-03T15:38:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=16731"},"modified":"2023-02-03T10:38:04","modified_gmt":"2023-02-03T15:38:04","slug":"faith-and-grace-in-response-to-brutality-christians-respond-to-tyre-nicholss-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/02\/faith-and-grace-in-response-to-brutality-christians-respond-to-tyre-nicholss-death","title":{"rendered":"Faith and Grace in Response to Brutality: Christians Respond to Tyre Nichols\u2019s Death"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis police officers has reignited debates about justice, racism, and activism amongst Christians. Since Nichols\u2019s death, five police officers have been charged with second-degree murder, with\u00a0<\/span>two more officers<\/span><\/a>\u00a0who responded to the scene being relieved of duty. Nichols was pulled over on January 7th by Memphis police officers, reportedly for reckless driving. Nichols was arrested and then later died from injuries received by the officers in the hospital.\u00a0<\/span>Footage<\/span><\/a>\u00a0from several sources, including officer body cams and traffic cams, was released from the arrest at the end of January. It does not show the specific details of what led to the stop, although one officer does claim in one of the videos that Nichols swerved his car into him. None of the footage verifies that statement, but it does show the officers ordering Nichols to the ground and making threats to him. After a brief struggle, Nichols broke free from the police and ran away, possibly with the hopes of getting to his mother\u2019s house, which was nearby. When the officers catch him, the footage shows Nichols being beaten, even after he is handcuffed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The footage has sparked outrage, with racism, lack of police training, defunding the police, and lowered police hiring standards all getting their share of the blame in the incident. Franklin Graham took to <\/span>Facebook<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to express his horror at the situation and his sympathy for Nichols\u2019s family. \u201cWhat happened to Tyre Nichols should never have happened\u2014it was cruel, unjust, and evil. Our hearts break for his family,\u201d he wrote. He cautioned against using the incident to paint broad strokes against police. \u201cThe heinous actions of these five officers does not mean that people should start talking about defunding the police. On the contrary, it means just the opposite. We need more funding and support for law enforcement for better training, vetting, hiring, and increasing salaries so we will have the best of the best,\u201d he added. Reports have shown that at least two of the officers were hired after the Memphis Police Department\u00a0<\/span>lowered its hiring standards<\/span><\/a>\u00a0due to a lack of officers. As of January 2022, the Department was down 500 officers. The changes included removing the requirement for an associate degree and lowering the number of required college credits from 54 to 24. The Department has also offered waivers for those convicted on felony charges.<\/span><\/p>\n

David Peoples, president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, blamed systemic issues for Nichols\u2019s death. \u201cThe culture of policing in America is violent, unaccountable, and anti-Black, even when it involves Black police officers,\u201d he <\/span>said<\/span><\/a>. He urged Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Pastor Wilbur T. Purvis III of Destiny World Church in Atlanta called the incident an example of self-hatred in the black community. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing to lose a brother to the brutality of the police; it\u2019s worse in this scenario because it was a brother killing a brother,\u201d he said. \u201cAt some point, we have to get over our self-hatred.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Darrell B. Harrison and Virgil Walker, the hosts of the popular \u201c<\/span>Just Thinking<\/span><\/a>\u201d Podcast, which deals with theological and cultural issues, shared their own thoughts on social media. \u201cSadly, the outrageous violence against Tyre Nichols is far too normative in black communities. This culture of death can be observed in everything from the celebration of black-on-black violence in our music to the acceptance of abortion in black pulpits. Life Matters,\u201d wrote\u00a0<\/span>Walker<\/span><\/a>. In response to a\u00a0<\/span>tweet<\/span><\/a>\u00a0from Benjamin Crump, who is representing Nichols\u2019s family, Harrison\u00a0<\/span>offered his own prescription<\/span><\/a>\u00a0for how to stop bad policing. His number one solution was to \u201cPreach the gospel, so the hearts of \u2018bad\u2019 police are changed.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis police officers has reignited debates about justice, racism, and activism amongst Christians. Since Nichols\u2019s death, five police officers have been charged with second-degree murder, with\u00a0two more officers\u00a0who responded to the scene being relieved of duty. Nichols was pulled over on January 7th by Memphis police…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":16734,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nFaith and Grace in Response to Brutality: Christians Respond to Tyre Nichols\u2019s Death<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Many Christians respond to the death of Tyre Nichols who was killed by police officers weeks ago in Memphis.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Faith and Grace in Response to Brutality: Christians Respond to Tyre Nichols\u2019s Death\" \/>\n<meta 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