Jim Jordan says no reform or education will stop the bad apple cops after five Memphis officers beat Tire Nichols to death during a traffic stop earlier this month.
The Judiciary Committee chair and member of the Oversight and Reform Panel has been pushing for reforms at the local level, claiming they can find ways to track down “wandering police officers”.
Lawmakers have sought to enact reforms at the federal level — particularly amid growing anti-law enforcement sentiment amid the Black Lives Matter riots following the death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer in the summer of 2020.
When asked what solutions exist to tackle police brutality in minority communities, Jordan urged more education and a focus on the local level.
Rep. Jim Jordan said more federal training and reforms didn’t stop the five police officers who beat Tire Nichols and are now facing murder charges because they “don’t respect life.”
Tire Nichols, 29, died three days after being rushed to the hospital this month after five Memphis police officers brutally beat her
“Well, I’m all for the best possible workout,” Jordan told NBC Meet the Press host Chuck Todd on Sunday morning. “But what I’m not for is what we saw there.”
“I don’t know there was any training, a ban, no chokeholds used. What they did there was just keep beating Mr. Nichols. And so I don’t know that’s the answer,” he added.
“But we’ll look again at what we think makes sense to support this, to make sure they have the right education. But no training will change what we saw in this video.”
Tire Nichols, 29, died in hospital Jan. 10, three days after five Memphis Police Department officers brutally beat him during a traffic stop.
Nichols and all five police officers, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith are black.
The five officers were fired on January 20 and arrested on January 26 and charged with the murder of Nichols and kidnapping, assault and misconduct.
Two firefighters who were in the ambulance that took Nicholas to hospital have been removed from duty and are now facing investigation.
The US Department of Justice and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation have launched investigations into the murder.
“These five individuals had no respect for life,” Rep. Jordan said Sunday morning.
All five police officers were fired on January 20 and arrested on January 26 and charged with the murder of Nichols and kidnapping, assault and misconduct
The officers charged with the murder are LR: Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III, Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith
Nichols was hospitalized in critical condition and died three days later
“And again, I don’t think these five guys represent the vast, vast majority of law enforcement,” added the Ohio congressman. “But I don’t know if there’s anything you can do to stop the kind of evil we saw in this video.”
Jordan said some Democratic initiatives that have tried to address police misconduct and clean up the bad apples have not been successful because it cannot be addressed at the federal level.
“If we can stimulate certain things, I still think you want to keep that at the state and local levels,” Jordan said.
“This is a law enforcement issue,” he added. “They’re starting to get the federal government involved in databases and federal licensing, it’s going to — because the federal government screws it up so often.”
“I think one of the items in the Democratic Legislature a few years ago was some kind of federal register,” Jordan recalled. “Well, then, are you worried if any complaint will be there? Will they only be decided complaints? How are we going to track this?’
During the stop, Nicholas was pulled from his car, pepper sprayed and tasered. An officer can be heard in video of the incident yelling at the other police, “I hope they stomp his ass.”
A three-minute caning ensued, during which officers punched and kicked Nichols and hit him with a baton while he was held down
Nichols, a FedEx worker and father of a four-year-old, was pulled over for allegedly reckless driving.
During the stop, Nicholas was pulled from his car, pepper sprayed and tasered. An officer can be heard in video of the incident yelling at the other officers: “I hope they kick his ass.”
A three-minute caning ensued, during which officers punched and kicked Nichols and hit him with a baton while he was held down.
Nichols was hospitalized in critical condition and died three days later.