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I met Tyrin “Ty” Johnson neither through a police report, nor through a press conference, nor through the carefully crafted statements of elected officials or the endless speculation that too often follows the death of a young Black man, but rather through the people who loved him most: his mother, his grandparents, his great-grandmother, his aunts, and the grief that filled the room where they gathered only days after his death. I would find out later that I’ve known one of his cousins for over 25 years.

They did not describe a headline. They described a son, a father, a nephew, a cousin, a student, a young musician whose life began with extraordinary struggle after being born prematurely and whose life ended far too soon. A legacy cut short.

Like so many Black families before them, they were forced to mourn while simultaneously defending the humanity of someone they loved. They were not asking for special treatment. They were asking for something much more fundamental. They were asking for the truth.

That truth has become increasingly difficult to find in Memphis, Tennessee.

On July 5, National Guard troops assigned to the so-called federally led Memphis Safe Task Force shot and killed 20-year-old Johnson. His family immediately called for the release of all available footage documenting what occurred. This request should not be controversial. After all, Memphis already knows what happens when official narratives are accepted before evidence is examined.

MLK’s Struggle Against Policing and Surveillance Is Still Alive in Memphis Today

The 2023 police-perpetrated killing of Tyre Nichols permanently altered the relationship between many Memphians and law enforcement. Initial descriptions of what officers claimed had happened collapsed under the weight of video evidence that revealed something altogether different. Since then, responsible people have learned to withhold judgment — not because we reject facts, but because we insist upon seeing them.

That is why the Johnson family’s request deserves immediate action.

National Guard troops do not typically wear body cameras. But law enforcement officials have stated that the encounter with Johnson began as a response to reports of shots fired. If local law enforcement officers responded alongside National Guard personnel, then body camera footage almost certainly exists. If local officers did not respond, then the public deserves to know why armed National Guard troops were deployed to confront civilians without Memphis Police Department officers present.

Transparency is not an inconvenience. It is the minimum requirement for public trust.

Unfortunately, Johnson’s death cannot be understood apart from a larger........

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