Nichols’ fatal beating

( Regarding “Editorial: Ignoring Tyre Nichols footage won’t erase need for real police reform,” Feb. 1): The death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis reminds me of persistent systemic troubles in the history of our United States, and while I am learning quickly about those systems, I also keep an eye on the mirror.

On June 10, 2021, Calvin Elmore (white, age 53) died in a police shooting in Fulshear, near Houston. The lone police officer (Hispanic, age 28) said the incident started when Mr. Elmore ran a stop sign. Three videos exist, but no public access has been provided. The Texas Rangers reviewed the videos and took charge of the case but reported nothing to the public.

I hope the video supports the story told by the lone police officer, but the lack of public access to the videos is an important part of the story.

Online news reports show a Blue Lives Matter police pickup at the scene of the shooting and others talk about an “increasing lack of diversity” in Fulshear. They also report three stickers on Fulshear public signs after the shooting (what I would call hate speech, such as “it is OK to be white,” “white lives matter,” and “stop white genocide”), and much more.

Police officers are selected from the population of the U.S.A., and our population in the U.S.A. (myself included) has far to go in learning about our disturbing history and its current continuing effects. We have made so little progress that no amount of police training can fix things without radical change. We are in a marathon, not a sprint, but these tasks are urgent. Douglas Yazell, Houston

Some 30 years ago, a hard-drinking neighbor was driving his car at night with three to four police cars following him with their sirens blaring. He would not stop until he pulled up in front of his home on Briar Forest Drive. The police jumped out, bashed out the window of his car, pulled him out of the car, handcuffed him and then beat him black and blue.

I heard about it on the radio and heard the sirens when I was playing tennis a block away. The next day I took photos of him and his badly bruised body holding the Chronicle so the date would be clear.

This shows, to me, that the police have a violent culture of beating people up when they don’t do what the police expect them to do. Police need to make arrests, but they should not be allowed to punish the person beforehand. Police brutality must be stopped. Jimmy Dunne, Houston

I extend my heartfelt condolences to the family of Tyre Nichols and the entire Memphis community. Tyre’s family deserves a swift, full and transparent investigation into his death.

As Americans grieve, the Department of Justice conducts its investigation, and state authorities continue their work, I join Tyre’s family in calling for peaceful protest.

Outrage is understandable, but violence is never acceptable. Violence is destructive and against the law. It has no place in peaceful protests seeking justice.

Paul Bacon, Hallandale Beach, Fla.

Andrew Nelles/ Associated Press The Rev. Dr. Rosalyn Nichols, flanked by the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Dr. J. Lawrence Turner, eulogizes Tyre Nichols during his funeral service Wednesday in Memphis.