The same-day release of the videos of the Memphis police murder of Tyre Nichols and the attack on Paul Pelosi were hard to watch and process. The first showing a savage beating, kicking, punching, and pepper spraying of a handcuffed and helpless man by several police, and the second showing a right-wing conspiracy-spouting loon striking former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's 82-year-old husband with a hammer are signs of how violent we've become in the age of Trumpism. With mass shootings a daily event, the downward spiral of civic life seems to be quickening, numbing us in the process by the sheer volume.
The five fired Memphis officers now await trial for second degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault, among other charges likely to be added. Pelosi's attacker faces Federal charges of attempted kidnapping of a Federal official, assault on an immediate member of a Federal official, and State charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and breaking and entering. If justice is done, all should spend most, if not all, of the rest of their lives in prison.
