Cleveland's Tyre Nichols vigil draws about 50 people, far less than the George Floyd riot crowd in Cleveland in May of 2020 that drew thousands....Some people say that Cleveland activists should be focusing on how Blacks in Cleveland are treated, including in the Cuyahoga County Jail where dozens of inmates have died in recent years and have been harassed by the special forces unit dubbed 'The Men in Black,' which is also called 'The Goon Squad' by inmates....Seasoned Black Cleveland activists say they were not included for the vigil with the help of the city's pro-establishment mainstream media because they are outspoken and pro-Black, and they do not get grant monies from the county....By Clevelandurbannews.com

 

Protesters in Cleveland who rallied for justice for George Floyd on May 30, 2020 torched  police cars as violence erupted in the largely Black major American city

 

Tyre Nichols

The five fired Memphis cops who face second degree murder and other charges for beating 29-year-old Tyre Nichols to death during a traffic stop

Convicted Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin (right), and his murder victim, George Floyd

Thousands gather at the Free Stamp next to Cleveland City Hall in downtown Cleveland on Saturday., May 30, 2020 for a rally for justice for Minneapolis police murder victim George Floyd, a rally that turned violent and erupted into riots. A vigil held Sunday, Jan 29, 2023 in the same spot for Tyre Nichols, whom Memphis police beat to death on Jan 7, 2023, drew hardly 50 people. Photo by Tristan Rader 

Clevelandurbannews.com and  Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

By Kathy Wray Coleman, associate publisher, editor-in-chief

CLEVELAND, Ohio- A vigil held at the Free Stamp in downtown Cleveland, Ohio Sunday evening for justice for Tyre Nichols, the 29- year-old Black man whom Memphis police beat to death earlier in the month, drew hardly 50 people, a far cry from the thousands that rallied in the same spot on May 30,  2020 for George Floyd. Led by Black Lives Matter Cleveland like the aforementioned rally in 2020, activists simply did not show up in large numbers, though several seasoned Black Cleveland activists said that they were not invited to partner with the coalition sponsoring the event and felt subordinated to White and other non-seasoned activists and suburban-led groups by the organizers.

They also complained that some of Cleveland's mainstream media are partly behind manipulating the event and shutting out outspoken seasoned Black Cleveland activists who are not getting grant money from the county like Black Lives Matter and some other groups to stay silent about public corruption, excessive force, and malicious prosecutions against the Black community by the office of Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Mike O'Malley.

"Nope," said Black on Black Crime President Alfred Porter Jr when asked if his group had been consulted to join a so-called coalition for the Nichols vigil in Cleveland on Sunday. Others said that greater Cleveland activists should be focusing on what is going on in Cleveland and surrounding areas, including a Cuyahoga County Jail where dozens of inmates have suspciously died in the past five years and a special forces unit inside the jail dubbed "The Men in Black'' by a damning U.S. Marshal's report in 2018 is still allegedly harassing inmates. (Editor's note: "The Men in Black" are also called "The Goon Squad" by county jail inmates).

Nichols was stomped to death by five Black Memphis cops on Jan 7 during a traffic stop. A police video of the incident that city officials subsequently made public reveals that they beat him for about three minutes, punching and kicking him in the head and striking him on the back with a baton while he was restrained and crying out for his mother. All five police officers have been fired and indicted on a host of criminal charges, including second degree murder. The five Memphis cops at issue were part of an elite special forces team called "The Scorpions" that Clevelanders say is not much different than "The Men in Black," who freely stalk, intimidate and otherwise harass Cuyahoga County jail inmates, both men and women alike.

Nichols was stomped to death by five Black Memphis cops on Jan 7 during a traffic stop. A police video made public after the incident reveals that they beat him for about three minutes, punching and kicking him in the head and striking him on the back with a baton while he was restrained and crying out for his mother .All five police officers, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith, have been fired and indicted on a host of criminal charges, including second degree murder. If convicted of second degree murder they face up to 80 years in prison. They were part of an elite special forces team called "The Scorpions," which has since been disbanded. The five officers at issue also face additional charges of aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression

Floyd, 46 at the time of his death, was Black like Nichols  and  was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected he may have used a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill. Derek Chauvin, one of the four police officers who arrived on the scene, knelt on Floyd's neck and back for nine minutes and 29 seconds until he murdered him After Floyd's  murder, protests against police brutality spread throughout the nation.

Like some other major American such as Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas and Columbus, the Cleveland protest for Floyd turned into a riot as protesters torched police cars, wrote graffiti on landmark buildings and trashed downtown restaurants and other businesses Some of the rioters were charged with crimes, mainly misdemeanors but also some felonies, and most took plea deals. White suburban teens who torched police cars and were charged criminally went home to their parents rather than to prison, Black men who trashed businesses got three-year prison sentences, disparate prison sentences in fact, sources said.

Floyd's  dying words, "I can't breathe" became a rallying slogan and like Nichols, Floyd also cried out for his mother while he was being murdered by police All four of the  Minneapolis police officers involved in Floyd's killing, including Chauvin, were convicted of misbehavior and imprisoned relative to the tragic incident, Chauvin's convictions of which include murder, and the other three former cops, federal Civil Rights violations.

 Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.