Progressive activist and media figure Justin Kanew sounded an alarm Tuesday after a Democratic district attorney shared a “horrifying” account of law enforcement training in the GOP-controlled state of Tennessee.
On Saturday, an op-ed written by Democratic District Attorney Steven Mulroy of Memphis was published in USA Today detailing his experience attending a “weeklong use-of-force training for law enforcement by Force Science, a private company hired by many law enforcement agencies across the country.”
Mulroy didn’t mince words in the op-ed, branding the course a pipeline for “police trained to kill.”
“The prosecutions of the officers accused of killing Floyd and Garner were ‘witch hunts,’” Mulroy wrote, describing the use-of-force training course.
“The choke hold used to kill Garner had nothing to do with his death, despite medical examiners’ conclusions that called that into question. Indeed, the instructors said concerns about choke holds were overblown. If a suspect says ‘I can’t breathe’ repeatedly, that means he can breathe – otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to say anything.”
Instead of shock, Mulroy’s op-ed was met with outrage from his fellow district attorneys in Tennessee, with six Republican district attorneys – and two registered independents – condemning him for writing it.
“With his reckless words, it is General Mulroy who has failed in his responsibility,” the district attorneys wrote in a joint statement.
In a video published on Tuesday, Kanew expressed utter shock at both the revelations unearthed in Mulroy’s op-ed and the reaction to it. He also warned that such training was “guaranteeing more people are going to die” and questioned why the story hadn’t gotten national attention.
“How is this not national news? I’m baffled! Nobody’s talking about this, so I’m going to keep talking about this because it’s horrifying,” Kanew said.
“To make matters worse, the reaction to his op-ed was not horror by fellow DAs and police saying, ‘that’s wrong,’ it was to go after him for saying this! It’s bold for him to write that, especially in Memphis. This DA writes this, and the other DAs don’t say, ‘oh my god, you’re right,’ they say, ‘how could you say such a thing?’”
WATCH — @Kanew: “Memphis D.A. @SteveMulroy901 just told us Force Science is training police to kill and telling them the Floyd & Garner killings were justifiable, and D.A.’s & police in Tennessee got mad at HIM for saying it… I don’t get why this isn’t a national story.” pic.twitter.com/oK2xCk1ifO — The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) July 14, 2026