Eric Adams Rejects Police Chief Saying Race Not Part of Tyre Nichols Case, Tells CNN It’s the ‘Pink Elephant in the Room’

New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) rejected the idea that race is not an issue in the death of Tyre Nichols after a confrontation with five former police officers in Memphis, Tennessee.

Video of Nichols and the officers was released to the public last week and sparked instant outrage with critics on both sides of the political aisle condemning the behavior of the officers. Nichols and all of the officers are Black. Nichols died days after the traffic stop and all five former officers are facing murder charges.

Appearing on CNN This Morning, Adams was asked by host Don Lemon whether there is an “entrenched police culture of aggression towards Black people,” noting the race of the officers and efforts by Adams to diversify departments may show there is a deeper issue at play.

“Clearly we could not ignore the ethnicity of the officers that are involved. That is the pink elephant in the room,” Adams said.

The mayor argued diversity is still essential in lowering police violence, and the former police officer said he felt “betrayal” when watching the Nichols footage.

“Diversity still is the key. We’ve seen that here in New York City and we’re going to stay on the road, but there was a personal feeling of betrayal when I witnessed that video,” he said.

Lemon brought up a previous conversation with Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn ‘CJ’ Davis where she said race is “off the table” because of the race of the officers involved, but Adams rejected this idea. He offered praise for Davis in handling the Nichols case, but claimed race still needs to be part of the conversation.

“I think race is still on the table when a culture of policing historically treated those from different groups differently, even when the individuals from from that same group,” he said.

Watch above via CNN.

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