Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association condemns the killing of Tyre Nichols.

San Diego, CA, February 5, 2023 – The Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association (EBGBA) expresses our deepest sympathy to the family of Tyre Nichols.  EBGBA condemns the actions of the five Memphis, Tennessee police officers who brutally beat Tyre Nichols, as well as the emergency staff who responded to the scene, yet failed to provide Tyre Nichols with adequate care. EBGBA calls for further accountability for the actions of the officers and emergency staff.

Like all other citizens, Black Americans pay local, state, and federal taxes and expect that the monies used by such taxes – to fund law enforcement – will offer protection to Black communities. Instead, we have seen videos countless of times of Black Americans being abused, met with excessive force, and killed by law enforcement who misuse their authority.

EBGBA is horrified to witness yet another brutalization of an unarmed Black man at the hands of police. The race and nationality of the police officers who viciously brutalized Tyre Nichols is inconsequential; the story is the same and the outcome is the same: another Black man’s life was brutally stripped away by the very people who were paid to protect it, as he cried out for his mother.

EBGBA championed Measure B: the Commission on Police Practices from its inception. If Measure B is implemented in accordance with the will of the voters and as envisioned by its authors and champions, San Diego will finally have a vehicle to hold police officers accountable.

EBGBA continues to call upon councilmembers and policymakers to take meaningful action to boost transparency within the police departments, as well as effectuating policy changes that make police accountable for their misuse of authority, especially as it pertains to Black Americans.

EBGBA is encouraged by the swift action of the Memphis District Attorney and Memphis Police Chief.  As an affinity bar association that is committed to the fair and humane treatment of all individuals regardless of race or gender, we call upon other affinity bar associations to work with local state and national lawmakers to challenge the toxic police culture that fuels and encourages these acts of police brutality.

Desirae Sanders

President, Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association, Inc.