Videos of Memphis police beating Black man are released
Five officers face charges of murder as cities brace for protests
Video showing five Memphis officers beating a Black man was made public Friday, one day after they were charged with murder in the death of Tyre Nichols.
The footage shows Nichols being held down, struck by the Black officers and screaming for his mother as the police savagely beat the 29year-old FedEx worker for three minutes. The Nichols family legal team has likened the assault to the infamous 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King.
“I’m going to baton the (expletive) out you,” one officer can be heard saying. His body camera shows him raise his baton while at least one other officer holds Nichols.
After the beating, officers milled about for several minutes while Nichols lay propped up against the car, then slumped onto the street.
Cities across the country braced for large demonstrations. Nichols’ relatives urged supporters to protest peacefully.
Protesters gathered in a park near the White House, in Memphis and other cities as the video was released.
In Memphis, protesters chanted: “Say his name! Tyre Nichols!” and several dozen protesters blocked a heavily travelled bridge on Interstate 55 that is one of two main spans connecting Arkansas and Tennessee over the Mississippi River.
“This young man, by definition of the law in this state, was terrorized. Not by one, not by two, but by five officers who we now know … acted in concert with each other,” said attorney Antonio Romanucci, who represents Nichols’ family.
Memphis Police Director Cerelyn Davis described the officers’ actions as “heinous, reckless and inhumane,” and said that her department has been unable to substantiate the reckless driving allegation that prompted the stop. She told The Associated Press there is no video of the traffic stop that shows Nichols recklessly driving.
During the initial stop, the video shows the officers were “already ramped up, at about a 10,” she said. The officers were “aggressive, loud, using profane language and probably scared Mr. Nichols from the very beginning.”
“We know something happened prior to this officer or these officers getting out of their vehicles … Just knowing the nature of officers, it takes something to get them amped up, you know, like that. We don’t know what happened,” she said.
“All we know is the amount of force that was applied in this situation was over the top.” Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, warned supporters of the “horrific” nature of the video but pleaded for peace.
Speaking at the White House, U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday that he was “very concerned” about the prospect of violence and called for protests to remain peaceful.
Biden said he spoke with Nichols’ mother earlier in the day and told her that he was going to be “making a case” to Congress to pass the George Floyd Act “to get this under control.” The legislation, which has been stalled, is meant to tackle police misconduct and excessive force and boost federal and state accountability efforts.
All five former officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith — face charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.