As Fed Prosecutors Fail to Convict ANY Cops for the Charge of Beating Tyre Nichols to Death, Study Shows Memphis Police Fail to Protect the Mostly Black Population; Ranked 'The Most Unsafe City in US'
Last week, 3 Memphis police officers were found guilty on Thursday of federal witness tampering charges in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man. But federal prosecutors failed to convict any of the defendants of the more serious charge of violating his civil rights by causing his death. Contrary to misleading media reports (“myth-information” obviously designed to control public reaction to the unjust verdict) one officer, Demetrius Haley, was convicted on a lesser charge of violating Mr. Nichols’s civil rights by causing bodily injury. That is, he was acquitted of causing the Black man’s death but found guilty of the lesser charge of only causing bodily injury (see below). At least six body cameras captured video and audio of Memphis cops brutally beating and torturing Tyre Nichols as he was unarmed and not resisting arrest. The murder also occurred directly in front public surveillance cameras which captured the brutalization that caused his death. As such, it is inexplicable that federal prosecutors were unable to convince a jury that said cops didn’t willfully beat Nichols to death (count 1), deny medical treatment (count 2) or conceal evidence (count 3). The actual jury verdict can be viewed here.
The three defendants — Mr. Haley, Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith — and two other former officers who pleaded guilty to their role in the violence, still face additional state charges, including second-degree murder.
In the aftermath of the feds failure to prosecute, a new report now places Memphis, Tennessee at the bottom of the 2024 list for “Safest Cities in the US.” That is, Memphis ranked #1 as the most unsafe city in the country. At the opposite end of the spectrum, South Burlington, Vermont takes the crown as America’s safest city in 2024.
Researchers from WalletHub compared 182 cities, including the 150 most populated U.S. cities and at least two of the most populated cities in each state. The team focused on three key dimensions: Home and community safety, the risk of natural disasters, and financial safety.
Although the report focused on metrics applicable to the general public, additional criteria should be considered for Black residents of cities, such as the propensity for police to interfere with their freedom of movement as they go about their daily lives. Most black people live in metro areas. In nearly every metro area Black people are routinely stopped, searched, detained and degraded by police in grossly substantial numbers. In Memphis for example, police stop Black residents, such as Tyre Nichols, at least 2.5X more than whites. In fact, most of the cities in which police stop Black people in grossly disproportionate numbers are controlled by elite, white liberals. [MORE]
After examining 41 different metrics in those three fields and creating a 100-point scale to grade them, researchers found that South Burlington finished head and shoulders above any other city. The Vermont community, with roughly 20,000 residents, ranked in the top 10 of all three major categories, finishing first overall in terms of financial safety.
South Burlington had the lowest unemployment rate and second-lowest percentage of residents living without insurance. The Wallethub team also notes that South Burlington is relatively safe from natural disasters, ranking low for the risk of floods, tornadoes, and wildfires.
Memphis fell from 176th in 2023 to dead last in 2024. Memphis finished in the bottom five in terms of assaults and traffic deaths and had the lowest percentage of households with emergency savings. Memphis is 61% Black.. The top ten most unsafe are as follows;
Memphis, TN
Detroit, MI
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Baton Rouge, LA
New Orleans, LA
Baltimore, MD
Cleveland, OH
Oakland, CA
Philadelphia, PA
San Bernardino, CA
Observe that all cities in the top ten are cities controlled by elite white liberals.
THE SO-CALLED SOCIAL CONTRACT IS SAID TO BE AN AGREEMENT WHEREBY CITIZENS VOLUNTARILY AGREE TO OBEY GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY IN EXCHANGE FOR POLICE PROTECTION AND OTHER SERVICES FROM THE GOVERNMENT. as a matter of law, POLICE HAVE NO LEGAL DUTY TO PROTECT ANY VICTIM FROM VIOLENCE FROM OTHER PRIVATE PARTIES, UNLESS THE VICTIM WAS IN GOVERNMENTAL CUSTODY. [MORE]
IF THERE IS NO SOCIAL CONTRACT THEN THERE IS NO RATIONAL BASIS FOR THE BELIEF IN POLITICAL AUTHORITY - THE BASIS FOR ALL GOVERNMENTS. HERE, BW IS NOT TALKING ABOUT THE PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT OR HOW GOVERNMENT CAN BE IMPROVED. RATHER, THE ISSUE IS WHETHER THE GOVERNMENT HAS A RIGHT TO RULE OVER PEOPLE IN THE FIRST PLACE AND WHETHER PEOPLE HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO OBEY THEIR IMPLIED AUTHORITY. [MORE]
After finishing 170th in 2023, New Orleans tumbled to 178th in 2024, finishing in the bottom five of WalletHub’s new list. New Orleans was second-to-last in terms of home and community safety and in the bottom 10 for financial security.
Other major cities sliding into the bottom 10 in terms of America’s safest cities were Philadelphia (174th), Cleveland (176th), Baltimore (177th), and Detroit (181st).
While researchers found major disparities between the safest and least safe cities, there was one factor in this year’s rankings that appears to be affecting every American metropolis: overall scores for safety are getting lower everywhere. While 2023’s safest city carried an overall score of 86 out of 100, South Burlington could only manage a score of 74.15.
Meanwhile, St. Louis finished in last place in 2023 with a score of 44.88. This year, the city in last (Memphis) only managed to score 34.81.