US Cities on Alert for BLM Unrest After Atlanta Antifa Riots
Violent BLM protest at night
InternationalIndiaAfricaJames TweediePolice in Memphis, Tennessee, are set to release bodycam video of the January 7 arrest of Tyre Nichols, a black man who died in hospital three days later from what one autopsy has described as a “severe beating.”Cities across the US have begun preparing for riots after last weekend’s violence in Atlanta, Georgia over the death of a black man following his arrest.Georgia state Governor Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency on Thursday, in force until February 9, and called up 1,000 National Guard troopers in case of further unrest.”Georgians respect peaceful protests, but do not tolerate acts of violence against person or property,” Kemp wrote in his order, stressing that the emergency was declared in the face of “unlawful assemblage, violence, overt threats of violence, disruption of the peace and tranquillity of this state and danger existing to persons and property.”© AP Photo / John BazemoreGeorgia Gov. Brian Kemp speaks to reporters after touring a mass vaccination site at the Macon State Farmers Market on Friday, Feb. 19, 2021, in Atlanta.
Cities as far-flung as Austin, Texas, Los Angeles, California and Washington, D.C. were also reportedly getting ready to fend off rioters.The Memphis, Tennessee Police Department is set to release bodycam footage on Friday of five officers, all also black men, recording their arrest of Tyre Nichols on January 7 for reckless driving.Nichols, who ran from one group of officers before being caught by another, died in hospital three days later. Preliminary results from an autopsy commissioned by his family found evidence of “extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating.”The five officers have been dismissed, arrested and charged with murder, kidnapping, assault and misconduct.
Sputnik ExplainsMurder in the US: Everything to Know About Tyre Nichols Case Before Release of Body Cam Footage01:16 GMTThe Austin PD said it “will be moving into tactical alert status beginning Friday morning.”The Washington Metropolitan Policer Department (MPD) said it had “fully activated all sworn personnel in preparation for possible First Amendment activities in the District of Columbia,” referring to the constitutional protection of freedom of speech.The MPD said it understood that the bodycam video “contains disturbing content that does not represent the values that any law enforcement officers are sworn to uphold.”The Nichols case has echoes of the 1991 beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles Police Department officers — after he led a highway patrol car on a high-speed chase through a residential neighbourhood under the influence of drink and drugs — and the death of George Floyd in 2020 while he was restrained by officers in Minneapolis during an arrest.The acquittal of the officers who beat King sparked days of riots in LA, while Floyd’s death contributed to the country-wide wave of protests and rioting during the 2020 presidential election campaign.
AmericasLos Angeles Police Open Investigation Into Death of BLM Co-Founder’s Cousin13 January, 12:20 GMTMasked, black-clad ‘Antifa’ rioters took to the streets of Atlanta, more than 300 miles from Memphis, at the weekend in protest at the police killing of an environmental activist who authorities said shot a state trooper.Rioters smashed windows and set off fireworks outside the building where the Atlanta Police Foundation, an NGO which provides planning and training to the city’s police department. Local businesses were also attacked.At least six suspects were arrested and charged with domestic terrorism offenses. Some were found in possession of explosives.The six suspects identified, all white, were named as Ivan Ferguson of Nevada; Graham Evatt of Decatur, Georgia; Nadja Geier of Nashville, Tennessee; Madeleine Feola of Spokane, Washington; Francis Carrol, of Kennebunkport, Maine; and Emily Murphy, 37, of Grosse Isle, Michigan.
