MSNBC host Rev. Al Sharpton commented that some are raising their eyebrows regarding the recent deadly beating of Tyre Nichols during a eulogy for the young man.
Fox News reports that Sharpton stated that if the police officers, in this case, had been white that they would not have beaten Tyre Nichols in the way that he was beaten.
Nichols ultimately died from the beating that he took by police. Officials released video evidence of the five officers beating Nichols recently, which has sparked outrage among many who are upset by everything that happened in this situation. It was something that Sharpton made a point about while delivering the eulogy. He tried to make the whole situation a discussion about race even though all police officers involved were black.
Sharpton imagined the following being said:
Well, Reverend Al, you dont understand: how are they going to keep crime down in the Black community and, at the same time not be tough and rough?
And then:
Well, the same way they do it on the White side of Memphis and keep the crime down, without being rough and tough.
He said that different police behave differently in different neighborhoods, and he condemned them for doing this.
He asked the following of the gathered audience:
How do you have the same department and keep crime down on one side of town without beating folk to death, but you cant do it on the other side of town unless you feel that you can get away with it there?
He then offered his thoughts about how the beating could have been a racial issue, although all of the officers involved were black, as was the victim:
I cant speak for everybody in Memphis, I cant speak for everybody gathering, but for me, I believe if that man had been White, you wouldnt have beat him like that that night.
Fox News reports that Al Sharpton also recently spoke at a rally in which he said that protestors and activists should not react to the news of Nichols death in any violent way. He stated that this would be something that would be held against all of the protests and the people demanding justice.
Finally, Sharpton claimed that the black officers involved in this attack were a disgrace to their race. He said:
Did you think because you was Black, we wouldnt say nothing? Did you think you would hide behind your Blackness? I want to say it loud and clear that we will fight Black cops, White cops, any color cops that commit crimes against us.
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