'You ain't seen nothing yet': Tennessee state senator calls for riots after pro-police bill passes

State Senator Charlane Oliver called for riots over the passage of a pro-police bill in Tennessee on Thursday, saying "you ain’t seen nothing yet."

"It is a slap in the face, and you might as well stomp on the grave of Tyree Nichols for bringing this bill," Oliver said. 

"Yes we are emotionally charged. Why? Because it’s personal for us. [Sen. Brent] Taylor made this personal the minute he introduced this legislation to target one family and one life that was lost. So yeah, we gonna fight."

"Dr. King said the riots are the language of the unheard. You ain’t seen nothing yet. If you keep silencing us like this, what do you think our district’s gonna do? We have had it up here, gloves off. Like, we got to fight like hell. You don’t expect us to respond?"

"When you gaslight us every single day with these bills? There’s a bill to get rid of the Tennessee Human Rights Commission that they're gonna bring to abolish it, rooted in the Civil Rights Act, to make sure that we have protections for folks that look like Tyree Nichols. Don't tell me this stuff ain't racist. Don't tell me it's not. It is rooted in racism. This was a Jim Crow bill that Taylor brought and all his Confederates voted for today.

Tyree Nichols was pulled over by officers on suspicion of reckless driving on January 7. Officers approached his vehicle and a confrontation occurred, which led to Nichols fleeing on foot. Officers chased him, detained him, and took him into custody. Nichols complained of shortness of breath after the incident and was taken to the hospital where he died three days later, on January 10.

Five former Memphis police officers, who are all black, were charged in Nichols’ death.

Memphis had adopted an ordinance that included outlawing pretextual traffic stops for violations like a broken taillight. The passed bill prohibits local areas from blocking traffic stops when an officer has reasonable suspicion that a local ordinance or state or federal law had been broken, according to Fox 17.

The bill now heads to Republican Governor Bill Lee’s desk.