CNN commentator Van Jones has sparked a backlash for suggesting the cops who beat Tyre Nichols may have been ‘driven by racism’ – despite them all being black.
The video released on Friday night shows Nichols, 29, crying out for his mother multiple times during the brutal January 7 assault, which took place just a few blocks from his home. He died three days later.
Jones, one of CNN’s star liberal commentators, wrote Friday that black people ‘are not immune’ to the effects of anti-black racism and that the narratives of police violence should never be as simple as ‘white cop kills unarmed black man.’
‘Society’s message that Black people are inferior, unworthy and dangerous is pervasive,’ Jones wrote.
‘Over many decades, numerous experiments have shown that these ideas can infiltrate Black minds as well as White. Self-hatred is a real thing.’
CNN commentator Van Jones sparked backlash for suggesting the police officers – all of whom were black – who beat and eventually killed Tyre Nichols may have been ‘driven by racism’
He said this kind of thinking might lead a black store owner to ‘regard customers of his same race with suspicion.’
‘Black people can harbor anti-Black sentiments and can act on those feelings in harmful ways,’ Jones added.
He went on to suggest that the problem is the black cops are ‘socialized’ in police departments which treat neighborhoods as ‘war zones’ and claims that the cops of all races ‘internalize’ the notion that few officers are punished for acts of brutality.
He then cited the rap group NWA’s lyrics to ‘F**k tha Police’ which share similar sentiments about black officers.
‘At the end of the day, it is the race of the victim who is brutalized – not the race of the violent cop – that is most relevant in determining whether racial bias is a factor in police violence,’ he said, suggesting it’s ‘hard to imagine’ a white person being beaten to death by police.
Many voices of different political stripes were outraged by the attempt to divide people over this issue.
Patrick Bet-David, a podcast host and author, wrote: ‘Any opportunity CNN gets to divide America, it jumps on it. It’s a shame. Why not try to unify for once?
‘This was a tragic event. What those 5 officers did to Tyre Nichols was terrible to say the least. My heart goes out to his entire family.’
Jones, one of CNN’s star liberal commentators, wrote Friday that black people ‘are not immune’ to the effects of anti-black racism and that the narratives of police violence should never be as simple as ‘white cop kills unarmed black man’
‘Society’s message that Black people are inferior, unworthy and dangerous is pervasive,’ Jones wrote. ‘Over many decades, numerous experiments have shown that these ideas can infiltrate Black minds as well as White. Self-hatred is a real thing’
Columnist Thomas Chatterton Williams added: ‘What if, stay with me, these five men were actually agents responsible for their own reprehensible actions and not merely hapless puppets being manipulated by the invisible hand of inescapable and omnipotent white supremacy?’
Connor Boyack responded: ‘The most racist people in our society seem to be the people who inject racism into every circumstance imaginable.’
‘It’s racism, CNN being the racist,’ said Olivier Janssens.
The Memphis Police Department has released harrowing bodycam footage of five police officers fatally beating Tyre Nichols following a traffic stop for purported reckless driving.
The video released on Friday night shows Nichols, 29, crying out for his mother multiple times during the brutal January 7 assault, which took place just a few blocks from his home.
‘Mom! Mom!’ screams Nichols as he is pinned to the ground by multiple officers, pepper sprayed in the face, kicked and punched in the head, and struck with a metal baton.
The video shows police rained at least nine blows down on the FedEx worker while screaming profanities throughout the nearly four-minute altercation.
Even after paramedics arrived, a handcuffed Nichols remained slumped over on the pavement for nearly half an hour without significant medical intervention.
All five officers involved in the killing were charged with second-degree murder, with the district attorney saying that though they all played different roles, ‘they are all responsible.’
Still, police across the nation were bracing for potential violent unrest as protesters gathered to voice outrage in response to the graphic and highly disturbing footage.
