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In a statement released by the White House on Friday, President Joe Biden reacted to the footage of Memphis police officers fatally beating Tyre Nichols during a traffic stop.
"Like so many, I was outraged and deeply pained to see the horrific video of the beating that resulted in Tyre Nichols’ death," said Biden in the statement. "It is yet another painful reminder of the profound fear and trauma, the pain, and the exhaustion that Black and Brown Americans experience every single day."
"My heart goes out to Tyre Nichols’ family and to Americans in Memphis and across the country who are grieving this tremendously painful loss," the president continued. "The footage that was released this evening will leave people justifiably outraged. Those who seek justice should not to resort to violence or destruction. Violence is never acceptable; it is illegal and destructive. I join Mr. Nichols’ family in calling for peaceful protest."
"I spoke with RowVaughn Wells and Rodney Wells, Mr. Nichols’ mother and stepfather, this afternoon," Biden continued. "There are no words to describe the heartbreak and grief of losing a beloved child and young father. Nothing can bring Mr. Nichols back to his family and the Memphis community. But Mr. and Mrs. Wells, Mr. Nichols’ son, and his whole family deserve a swift, full, and transparent investigation."
"We must do everything in our power to ensure our criminal justice system lives up to the promise of fair and impartial justice, equal treatment, and dignity for all," said Biden. "Real and lasting change will only come if we take action to prevent tragedies like this from ever happening again. That is why I called on Congress to send the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to my desk. When Senate Republicans blocked that bill, I signed an executive order that mandated stricter use of force standards and accountability provisions for federal law enforcement, as well as measures to strengthen accountability at the state and local level."
The five officers who carried out the beating have been fired and charged with second-degree murder. The paramedics who failed to administer proper medical attention are also under heavy professional scrutiny.
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On Friday evening, the Memphis Police Department released body camera footage showing four since-fired officers brutally beating Tyre Nichols during a traffic stop. Nichols died later as a result of his injuries, and the officers behind the beating, who worked for the so-called SCORPION unit, have now been charged with murder.
Legal experts on Twitter were quick to react with horror on the video, which was split into four parts and did not include footage of the original traffic stop, but showed the officers beating Nichols multiple times as he screamed in pain and also showed paramedics failing to render proper aid when they arrived on the scene.
"A depraved indifference toward human life," said Georgia State Law professor Anthony Michael Kreis. "Nothing short of an extra-judicial execution."
Wheaton political science professor Miranda Yaver agreed, writing, "The first major news story that I remember following on TV was the beating of Rodney King. It’s infuriating how little has changed since then."
IN OTHER NEWS: New York FBI official busted for Russia ties was turned in by angry ex-lover: report
Former federal prosecutor Harry Litman walked through some of the most significant parts.
"Nichols does nothing to resist arrest while the officers kick and punch Nichols and beat him with a baton. He falls and stands up and gets pummeled by 5 blows," wrote Litman. "Video 3 is maybe the worst Officers taser him, threaten to do it again. Nichols screams out "Mom" repeatedly Officers f-bomb him repeatedly Officers breathless from beating him ... They actually stand him up to beat him again and worse."
Meanwhile, civil rights attorney Andrew Laufer retweeted the statement, "I won’t be sharing the video or viewing it. I will say it’s long past time to end qualified immunity [for police officers] across the board."
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New York FBI official busted for Russia ties was turned in by angry ex-lover: report
January 27, 2023
Retired FBI counterintelligence chief for the New York Office Charles McGonigal was arrested earlier this week and charged with violating U.S. sanctions against a Russian oligarch — one of the highest-ranking FBI officials in U.S. history to ever be charged with a crime.
And according to a new report by The Daily Beast on Friday, he was nailed in part because an angry ex-lover turned him in.
"In an interview with Insider, Allison Guerriero said she dated McGonigal for a year, unaware he was married," reported Rachel Olding. "He spent far more lavishly than an FBI salary would typically allow, she recalled, and she once found a bag of cash in his apartment. But after their fling ended, he revealed he was married and had no plans to leave his wife."
"She said she was so angry that, after a bout of drinking, she emailed his boss to disclose the affair as well as extensive dealings she’d noticed McGonigal had in Albania," the report continued. "It’s unclear what came of the email but the feds turned up on her doorstep three years later to ask her about McGonigal and some of her allegations regarding Albania appeared in last week’s indictment."
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The indictment against McGonigal alleges he and a Russian-language court reporter named Sergey Shestakov tried to get Russian billionaire industrialist Oleg Deripaska off the U.S. sanctions list by forging documents and laundering money as part of an investigation into another Russian oligarch to conceal Deripaska as a source of certain payments. Deripaska also has ties to Paul Manafort, the former chairman of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.
Following the arrest, Trump took to social media to wish McGonigal "rot in hell" and accuse him of fabricating the investigation into his connections to Russia around his first presidential campaign. McGonigal was made aware of some of the FBI's Russia investigation at the time, but there is no indication he was leading the investigation or fabricated anything.
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