The Banality of Evil

e four videos of Memphis Police beating Tyre Nichols reveal dark truths.

The camera never lies,” the old saying goes. But really, the lies cameras tell are lies of omission. e lmmaker chooses to show the well-lit movie star, not the scru y ga er holding the light. In past videos of police brutality, such as the 1991 Rodney King beating and the 2020 murder of George Floyd, police apologists insisted that exonerating evidence was, like the scru y ga er, just o screen.

Video 2, Video 4, Video 3, and Video 1 leave little ambiguity for bad faith actors to exploit. ey present the murder of Tyre Nichols in multiple angles with minimal editing. Video 1 is the body camera of a white o cer who rolls up on Nichols’ car stopped in a le turn lane on Raines Road. It is not immediately obvious that the two vehicles hemming Nichols in on the front and le side are unmarked police cars. e rst intelligible words in the video are a Memphis Police o cer screaming, “You gonna get your ass blown the fuck up!”

What is clear from Video 1 is that

Tyre Nichols presented no threat. Once he gures out these are real cops and not carjackers, he desperately tries to deescalate the situation. “You guys are really doing a lot right now,” he says. “I’m just trying to go home.”

But it’s no use. ese agents of the state are looking for a bit of fun at Nichols’ expense.“Lay down!” one cops yells.

“I’m already on the ground!” pleads Nichols, who is at this point completely under the control of 600 pounds worth of MPD. “I’m not doing anything!”

“Spray him.”

As camera cop fumbles with his taser, another cop tries to pepper spray Nichols. Instead, the chemical weapon blinds his fellow o cers. In the confusion, Nichols sees his chance and runs.

It’s a rational choice, since the MPD has made it clear to Nichols that there is no level of compliance he could demonstrate that will stop them from torturing him in the turn lane. It’s well-known in Memphis that if you run from the cops, they’ll give you a whooping when they catch you.“You got any charges on him?” the dispatcher asks over the radio. No one answers, because there are no charges. ey’re just hunting him for sport.

“I sprayed myself,” says a bearded cop.

“Shit, you sprayed me too!” says camera cop. “I hope they stomp his ass.” e angle of Video 2 is eerily similar to the angle of the Rodney King video. It provides an unobstructed view of Mem-

Nichols ees into the suburban neighborhood where his mother lives. Coincidentally, the corner where the cops catch him is in view of a SkyCop camera.