Jim Jordan: Training would NOT stop five Memphis cops who killed Tyre Nichols
Jim Jordan says no amount of reform or training will stop bad apple cops after five Memphis officers beat Tyre Nichols to death during a traffic stop earlier this month.
The Judiciary Committee chairman and Oversight and Reform panel member urged reform at a local level, claiming they could implement ways to track ‘wandering cops.’
Lawmakers have attempted to conduct reform at the federal-level – especially in the midst of growing anti-law enforcement sentiment in the midst of the Black Lives Matter riots following the death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer in the summer of 2020. .
When asked about what solutions there are to combat police brutality in minority communities, Jordan urged more training and focus on the local level.
Rep. Jim Jordan said that more training and federal-level reforms wouldn’t have stopped the five cops who beat Tyre Nichols and are now charged with his murder because they ‘don’t respect life’
Tire Nichols, 29, died three days after he was admitted to the hospital this month following a brutal beating by five Memphis Police officers
‘Well, I’m for the best training possible,’ Jordan told NBC Meet the Press host Chuck Todd on Sunday morning. ‘But what I’m not for is what we saw there.’
‘I don’t know that any training, any ban, there was no chokeholds used there. What they did there was just continue to beat Mr. To install nicholas. And so I don’t know that that’s the answer,’ he added.
‘But, again, we’ll look at what we think makes sense to help this, to make sure they have the proper training. But no amount of training is going to change what we saw in that video.
Tire Nichols, 29, died in a hospital on January 10, three days after five Memphis Police Department officers severely beat him during a traffic stop.
Nichols and all five cops, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith, are black.
The five officers were fired on January 20 and on January 26 were arrested and charged with Nichols’ murder as well as kidnapping, assault and misconduct.
Two firefighters who were in the ambulance that transported Nicholas to the hospital were relieved of duty and are now pending investigation.
The US Justice Department and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation have opened investigations into the murder.
‘These five individuals did not have any respect for life,’ Rep. Jordan said on Sunday morning.
All five cops were fired on January 20 and on January 26 were arrested and charged with Nichols’ murder as well as kidnapping, assault and misconduct.
The officers charged with murder are LR: Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III, Tadarrius Bean, and Justin Smith
Nichols was admitted to the hospital in critical condition and died three days later.
‘And, again, I don’t think these five guys represent the vast, vast majority of law enforcement,’ the Ohio congressman added. ‘But I don’t know that there’s anything you can do to stop the kind of evil we saw in that video.’
Jordan said some Democratic initiatives to try and crack down on police misconduct and ween out the bad apples were not successful because it’s not something that can be addressed at the federal level.
‘If we can incentivize certain things, I still think you want to keep this at the state and local level,’ Jordan said.
‘This is a law enforcement issue,’ he added. ‘You start getting the federal government involved in databases and federal licensing, that gets – because the federal government screws it up so many times.’
‘I think one of the items in the Democrat legislation a couple years ago was some kind of federal registry,’ Jordan recalled. ‘Well, then you get concerns is every complaint going to be there? Are they going to be just adjudicated complaints? How are we going to track this?
During the stop, Nicholas was pulled from his car, pepper sprayed and tasered. One officer is heard in video of the incident yelling towards the other police, ‘I hope they stomp his a**’
A three-minute beating then ensued with officers punching and kicking Nichols, as well as striking him with a baton while he was restrained.
Nichols, a FedEx worker and father of a four-year-old, was stopped for alleged reckless driving.
During the stop, Nicholas was pulled from his car, pepper sprayed and tasered. One officer is heard in video of the incident yelling towards the other police, ‘I hope they stomp his a**.’
A three-minute beating then ensued with officers punching and kicking Nichols, as well as striking him with a baton while he was restrained.
Nichols was admitted to the hospital in critical condition and died three days later.