Rep. Jamaal Bowman said a Memphis man who was fatally beaten by Black police officers was “killed by white supremacy” and “America” in a recent fundraising email by his re-election campaign.
“Tyre Nichols should be alive today. Instead, like so many others he was killed by police. Killed by white supremacy. Killed by America,” read the campaign email sent Monday on behalf of the New York Democrat, the New York Post first reported.
“This is Black terror,” the email said. “We feel it everyday. We feel it more today. Too many victims to name. Too much hurt to explain. Too many tears, too normalized, too numb. From 1619 to the present day we live in a constant state of terror.”
Nichols, who was Black, died after he was brutally beaten by five now-former officers with the Memphis Police Department during a traffic stop.
The Memphis Police Department officers terminated on Jan. 18 for their role in the arrest of deceased Tyre Nichols are, from left, Desmond Mills, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin and Tadarrius Bean. (Shelby County Jail)
TYRE NICHOLS’ DEATH: FORMER MEMPHIS COP TOOK AND SHARED PHOTOS OF BLOODIED VICTIM
Demetrius Haley, Tadarrius Bean, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith are charged with second-degree murder in the Jan. 7 beating.
All the ex-officers except Bean have infractions in their work records ranging from using physical force during an arrest to failing to report a domestic violence incident.
All five were also named in a lawsuit and accused of beating a Black Army veteran days before their encounter with Nichols.
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In his fundraising email, Bowman claimed Nichols’ death is the result of an “operating system” that dehumanizes Black people.
“Police brutality happens in New York, in Memphis, in Los Angeles, in cities across the country, small towns across the country, and throughout American history,” the message read, according to the Post. “At the root of it is the dehumanization of Black people, people of color, and particularly Black men. This kind of white supremacy is not just about skin color, however: it’s about ideology. It’s the operating system on which too much of our society is based.”
Rep. Jamaal Bowman speaks at the National Action Network’s annual national convention on April 7, 2022, in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
“We need my fellow members of Congress and President Biden to provide historic leadership on this issue. We cannot maintain this status quo. We must lead for Black lives and lead for Black humanity,” added the email, which included a “Donate” link.
Bowman’s campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for further elaboration.
While the officers accused of killing Nichols are Black, progressives have claimed Nichols’ death can be blamed on White supremacy due to institutional racism that treats Black people as inferior.
The University of Minnesota’s Center for Antiracism Research for Health Equity issued a statement arguing that “the killings, terror, and oppression are a direct result of anti-Black racist attitudes, policies, procedures, and leadership that pervade our institutions.”
Demonstrators hold signs during a protest at Washington Square Park in New York City on Jan. 28, 2023, in response to the death of Tyre Nichols. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)
Ben & Jerry’s, the progressive Vermont ice cream maker that routinely weighs in on social justice issues, argued that “the fact that the officers who murdered Tyre are Black shows how deeply embedded white supremacy is in American culture and specifically in policing.”
“You do not have to be white to act in service of white supremacy,” Ben & Jerry’s tweeted. “It is more powerful than any one individual or group of people, it is in the air we breathe and built into the systems that surround us.”
Earlier this month, Bowman, a member of the far-left “Squad” of House Democrats, and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., reintroduced the African American History Act in both the House and the Senate, which they said will increase awareness of “African American history through a social justice and anti-bias lens.”
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“It is our moral imperative to tell the truth about our past to finally reconcile with this nation’s history of racism and white nationalism, and our legislation will serve as a vital component in our fight to do just that,” Bowman said in a press release.
A spokesperson for Bowman didn’t immediately respond to an inquiry from Fox News Digital.
Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
