Lawyers say footage shows man’s beating; family urges calm.

Authorities on Friday were set to release police video depicting five Memphis officers beating a Black man whose death resulted in murder charges and provoked outrage at the country’s latest instance of police brutality. Family members of Tyre Nichols pleaded for any protests to remain peaceful.

The officers, all of whom are Black, were charged Thursday with murder and other crimes in the killing of Nichols, a motorist who died threedaysaftera Jan. 7 confrontation during a traffic stop.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told a news conference that although the officers each played different roles in the killing, “they are all responsible.”

Nichols’ family members and their lawyers said the footage shows officers savagely beating the 29-yearold Fedex worker for three minutes in an assault that the legal team likened to the infamous 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King.

Memphis Police Director Cerelyn Davis described the officers’ actions as “heinous, reckless and inhumane,” and said Friday that her department has been unable to substantiate the reckless driving allegation that prompted the stop.

“As far as I know today, I do believe that the stop itself was very questionable,” she told ABC’S “Good Morning America.”

Video of the traffic stop was to

be released Friday evening, Mulroy said, noting that investigators wanted to complete as many interviews as possible before making the footage public. Nichols’ family members viewed the video Monday.

Given the likelihood of protests, Davis told ABC that she and other local officials decided it would be best to release the video later in the day, after schools are dismissed and people are home from work.

As a precaution, Memphis-area schools canceled all after-class activities and postponed an event scheduled for Saturday morning.

Nichols’ mother, Rowvaughn Wells, warned supporters of the “horrific” nature of the video but pleaded for peaceful protests.

“I don’t want us burning up our city, tearing up the streets, because that’s not what my son stood for,” she said Thursday. “If you guys are here for me and Tyre, then you will protest peacefully.”

Davis also urged calm. “None of thisis acalling card for inciting violence or destruction on our community or against our citizens.”

GERALD HERBERT/AP Attorney Ben Crump speaks Friday to Rowvaughn Wells, mother of Tyre Nichols, whodied after a stop by Memphis officers. Wells pleaded that any protests be peaceful.