Editor’s note: As we go to print, videos of the brutal police killing of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee, and news of Tortuguita, a forest protector near Atlanta who Georgia State Police killed while in his tent, hit the airwaves. Like the killing of George Floyd, and others, the world heard Tyre Nichols calling for his mother for protection. Some days earlier, the anguished mother of Tortuguita made immediate plans to come to the U.S. from Panama to clear her son’s name. Tortuguita was a non-violent lover of nature and humanity who opposed building a police training center in the forest, not a terrorist as forest protectors are now called by Georgia’s governor and others. — The Editors
By People’s Tribune
Clesslynn Jane Crawford, age 2. Jayland Walker, age 25. Antonio Suarez, age 82. These are among the 1,183 people killed by police in 2022, the highest number in a single year in the past decade, according to an end of year report from Mapping Police Violence. There were only 12 days last year when police did not kill someone. People were killed in every state by local and state police, county sheriffs’ deputies and federal agents. Victims came from every racial and ethnic group, but people of color were killed in proportionally higher numbers.
Police Killings Per 1 Million Population (2013-22)
• Black 7.15
• Native American 7.06
• Pacific Island 6.91
• Latino 3.29
• White 2.57
The report found that most killings by police begin with traffic stops, mental health checks, domestic disturbances, and other non-violent offenses where no crime was alleged. One in three police killings began with an alleged violent crime. You can find the full report at www.mappingpoliceviolence.us
For information on the police killing of Tortuguita, you can visit:
https://peoplestribune.org/2023/01/atlanta-forest-defender-shot-and-killed-by-police/ and
https://peoplestribune.org/2023/01/community-demands-police-abolition-as-they-mourn-tortuguita-forest-defender-killed-by-police/
