That the moment would come when I would want to defend Tatsopoulos seems a bit dystopian. Obviously, this also belongs to the "never say never" category and that for everything you've said "never", you've done it or you've washed it. At least I do, often. The reason for Petros Tatsopoulos, the writer, journalist, charmer of Athens and politician who in 7 years, from 2012 to 2019, went through SYRIZA, Potami and ND. 2012 was admittedly his year. In addition to being elected as an MP with SYRIZA - the following times, in the following parties, he did not succeed - or because of this fact, he drew a lot of attention to himself; he suffered a televised attack of hysteria and then a crisis of narcissism declaring that "he has jumped half of Athens". Let's do a historical review, because no, we're talking about pure political surrealism...
So in May 2012, in the studio of Focus Web TV on the show of Fais Mavragani, he is on the panel with Argyris Dinopoulos of N.D., Thodoros Skylakakis of the DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE and Stelios Stavridis of DRASIS to talk about the impossibility of forming government... until he starts arguing with Stavridis, then screaming and finally gesturing at him, calling him an idiot and leaving the panel with a "come and c@μήσου". A few months later, in November, he makes the infamous line about "half of Athens" in response to Golden Dawn's comments calling him gay; I am so moved by the political culture and the level of it in this country... Since then, I confess that I don't remember much of his route, until the previous Monday when he was arrested by the police after an event in a bookstore in Kolonaki - they stoically waited for it to end, let's face it, he himself admitted it - after the TV personality and parliamentary candidate's lawsuit with Velopoulos , Filippo Kampouris, for defamation but also for insulting his religious beliefs. Until Monday, I was ignorant of the existence of the gentleman, who speaks from what I understand much about miracles and on this point dear Peter disagreed with him.
So what did the Greek police do? But of course, her duty; she arrested him in the context of the autoforum, regardless of whether the automatic defamation procedure has been abolished since 2019, because he spoke his mind and criticized. The arrest was condemned by our government representative, speaking of the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression; the mayor of Athens did the same.
Under normal circumstances, I probably would have laughed the incident off and passed it by; but now I was angry.
All of this ridiculousness happened just three days after the video was released that shocked everyone of the brutal beating of 29-year-old African-American Tyre Nichols by Memphis police officers who stopped him for dangerous driving just meters from his home. He didn't resist, he was calling his mom, and three days later he died; from the beating. America experienced another incident of abuse of power by police officers.
After the publication of the video, a portion of the American people were outraged, who held protests across the country, as well as the immediate intervention of President Joe Biden. In the foreground, the immediate need to proceed with the reform of the legislation and to pass the "Justice for George Floyd" resolution came back. To say that in the case of Tire Nichols, the police officers who attacked him were also African-American shows how systemic and complex the problem of police brutality and racism in the US is.
And these are not normal conditions.
Or is that what pissed me off after all?
From a young age, I remember being uncomfortable with the presence of police officers. Not exactly fear, but a concern; not much security, though. But when I first talked to my son about the police as a mom, I told him that he should go to them if he feels that he is in danger or that he is lost, because he can trust them to protect him and help him. That's what common sense says: the police protect us. And not to be unreasonable, most of the time it does.
But sometimes not. Like African-Americans in America and Roma in Greece. As happened with the death of 16-year-old Roma Kostas Fragoulis last December. Or with the beating to death of the 44-year-old Roma, earlier in February 2022 in Menidi, when he tried to steal an air conditioner.
But my son is neither Roma nor African American, you will tell me; don't worry. So what; It's some others.
And the abuse of police force exists, let's not hide behind our finger. Not just in America, but here and everywhere. As there is excessive zeal. Or stupidity together, as in the case of Tatsopoulos.
Police in Memphis say they were furious that Tire Nichols got away and chased him. When they took him out of the car, however, initially with such force, he did not resist. He was telling them to calm down, that he was cooperating, but they continued their aggression. They ordered him, cursed him and beat him to obey...
Y.S. No, I won't post the video of the Nichols beating. After all, we all saw it. I will quote that of Tatsopoulos and Stavridis. Not to laugh, but to remember that if there is no political culture, we will often have abuses of power and violence in all social strata.
*Cover photo: Soldiers I AM A Man Civil Rights March Protests – Etsy