Uploaded February 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
On January 7, 2023, several black police officers of the SCORPION Unit in Memphis, Tennessee stopped Tyre Nichols for an alleged traffic violation, then proceeded to pepper spray and beat him. His injuries led to hospitalization that night, and Tyre Nichols died three days later. The autopsy revealed extensive internal bleeding. They have since been fired from the Memphis Police Department and charged with murder.
In "No Cop Can Be A…", poet Alex Sheremet rebuts the idea that cops have any race, ethnicity, or allegiance other than “cop” – their only and actual tribe. This is because police officers are in close proximity with one another, get paid by the same sources, and are protected by America’s most powerful unions. Any cops who diverge from the party line are formally and informally punished, furthering their allegiance to one another while excising any potential “troublemakers”. This is obvious in the fact that all five officers who murdered Tyre Nichols seemed to take great pleasure in their actions, bragging about their violence, even though they are a random sampling of officers. Notice, also, terms such as SCORPION Unit, which call to mind violence and death, the context under which most officers train. In some ways, the murder of Tyre Nichols – or someone like him – was structurally inevitable.
A note on the ario poetic form: Bruce Ario (1955 – 2022) was a Minneapolis poet who created the “ario” poetic form, a 10-line poem with 3 stanzas of 3 lines each, concluding with a final line that inverts that which preceded it. For more information, check out our video, ArtiFact #35: The Life & Times Of Bruce Ario: youtube.com/watch?v=ycAD9s57Re8
If you found this video useful, support us on our Patreon page and get patron-only content: patreon.com/automachination
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Text of poem:
NO COP CAN BE A...
* for Tyre Nichols
It doesn't matter that he dries his eyes
As hands settle, or why he executes
Their mission. Forget the color
Of his character and night enlarges
Like a superstition
Spun between the ribs.
It doesn't matter if his god is black
Space among the paling. He was chosen
In tribe like a Saxon in feathers.
There is no cop where there is no trigger.
Tags: #tyre #memphis #shorts #blacklivesmatter #poetry
On January 7, 2023, several black police officers of the SCORPION Unit in Memphis, Tennessee stopped Tyre Nichols for an alleged traffic violation, then proceeded to pepper spray and beat him. His injuries led to hospitalization that night, and Tyre Nichols died three days later. The autopsy revealed extensive internal bleeding. They have since been fired from the Memphis Police Department and charged with murder.
In "No Cop Can Be A…", poet Alex Sheremet rebuts the idea that cops have any race, ethnicity, or allegiance other than “cop” – their only and actual tribe. This is because police officers are in close proximity with one another, get paid by the same sources, and are protected by America’s most powerful unions. Any cops who diverge from the party line are formally and informally punished, furthering their allegiance to one another while excising any potential “troublemakers”. This is obvious in the fact that all five officers who murdered Tyre Nichols seemed to take great pleasure in their actions, bragging about their violence, even though they are a random sampling of officers. Notice, also, terms such as SCORPION Unit, which call to mind violence and death, the context under which most officers train. In some ways, the murder of Tyre Nichols – or someone like him – was structurally inevitable.
A note on the ario poetic form: Bruce Ario (1955 – 2022) was a Minneapolis poet who created the “ario” poetic form, a 10-line poem with 3 stanzas of 3 lines each, concluding with a final line that inverts that which preceded it. For more information, check out our video, ArtiFact #35: The Life & Times Of Bruce Ario: youtube.com/watch?v=ycAD9s57Re8
If you found this video useful, support us on our Patreon page and get patron-only content: patreon.com/automachination
Subscribe to the ArtiFact podcast on Spotify: spoti.fi/3xw2M4D
Apple Podcasts: apple.co/3wLpqEV
Google Podcasts: bit.ly/3dSQXxJ
Amazon Music: amzn.to/2SVJIxB
Podbean: bit.ly/3yzLuUo
iHeartRadio: https://ihr.fm/3AK942L
Read more from the automachination universe: automachination.com
Read Alex Sheremet’s (archived) essays: alexsheremet.com
Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/automachination
Text of poem:
NO COP CAN BE A...
* for Tyre Nichols
It doesn't matter that he dries his eyes
As hands settle, or why he executes
Their mission. Forget the color
Of his character and night enlarges
Like a superstition
Spun between the ribs.
It doesn't matter if his god is black
Space among the paling. He was chosen
In tribe like a Saxon in feathers.
There is no cop where there is no trigger.
Tags: #tyre #memphis #shorts #blacklivesmatter #poetry
