Crowd in Stroudsburg calls for change after death of Tyre Nichols

A diverse crowd — young and old, Black and white — turned out in Stroudsburg on Monday evening to call for change in response to the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis police.

"If you remain silent, you are part of the problem. If you work within law enforcement, and your first thought was not, 'This must stop,' but instead, 'Not all cops,' you are part of the problem. If you remain silent again, you are part of the problem. If you remain apathetic, you are part of the problem," said Christa Caceres, president of the Monroe County chapter of the NAACP, which organized the event.

She urged people to contact elected officials to ask that deaths of unarmed people killed by police be investigated by the attorney general's office or a bipartisan review board every time, regardless of whether the district attorney refers the case.

State Reps. Maureen Madden (D-115) and Tarah Probst (D-189) both appeared at the vigil, urging the attendees to reach out to their elected officials to express their concerns about police brutality and support for the legislative initiative to have the attorney general investigate deaths linked to police.

"We are going to craft an incredibly responsible bill that looks at all sides," Madden said. "But at the end of the day, this bill is to have independent investigations of the deaths of people at the hands of law enforcement. So make those phone calls tomorrow. Make those phone calls and say, 'You know, Rep. Madden's got this bill she's introducing, we really think it will help.'"

Community members expressed their fears about potential police encounters.

"I just want to grow up where people can walk around and be safe and people can drive, African Americans can drive and not feel the need to be scared that if you get pulled over you're going to die and I just want to feel safe while growing up," said 12-year-old A.J. Williams to a round of applause from a supportive crowd.

A Marine Corps veteran, Kenneth Mercer, said that "we have allowed our police departments to behave like militaries."

"Armies are designed to kill. That's the business of armies. I was part of that business. And that's what's happening here right now," he said, adding that tactics must change for the safety of all people.

'Work as one unit for humanity'

Stroudsburg Area Regional Police Department Chief Jennifer Lyon, the only law enforcement official to speak at the vigil, said Nichols' death "wasn't about bad police work, this wasn't bad training — these were criminals, this was a gang of thugs that beat somebody to death."

Lyon advocated for the community to work together to combat such practices.

"This is not getting solved from us. This is not getting solved from groups. This is only solved when we all get down and dirty together and work as one unit for humanity, for the basic human race at this point. So thank you all for coming out tonight. Thank you all for supporting each other. And let's continue to fight the fight," Lyon said.

On Jan. 7, Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, was pulled over by Memphis police officers at a traffic stop. Body camera footage from the officers — part of the "SCORPION Unit," which stands for “Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods" — and other surveillance footage show them brutally beating Nichols while shouting expletives at him, using a baton and pepper spray as he called out for his mother.

Audio from the footage show the officers making light of the situation and laughing, as Nichols was struck at least 13 times.

Nichols was hospitalized, and died from the injuries he sustained three days later.

Former officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr. — all members of the SCORPION Unit, which has been disbanded — have each been charged with one count of second-degree murder, aggravated assault – acting in concert, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of official misconduct and one count of official oppression, court records show.

An officer who had fired a stun gun, identified by police and his own attorney as Preston Hemphill, was relieved of duty, though he was not subject to departmental or criminal charges.

"I haven't watched the video, and I'm not going to watch it. I have two sons. They are 25 years old and 22 years old, and I worry about them every minute of every day," said Tameko Patterson, vice president of the local NAACP. They tell her not to worry, but she tracks their locations using Life360, a location sharing and safety app.

"Why do I have to do that? Why? No one has the right to take another's life. I don't care what badge you wear. I do not care. A mother should not have to worry about her sons walking out of the door and if they will return again. It's time for this to stop. We have to change the laws," she said.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

What happened to Tyre Nichols:Video shows Memphis police violently beating Tyre Nichols in the traffic stop that led to his death

In Congress:Tyre Nichols case reignites conversations among lawmakers on federal police legislation

This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Monroe NAACP leads vigil in Stroudsburg after Tyre Nichols death