Officials in Memphis released police bodycam footage late Friday of the beating of Tyre Nichols, a Black man who died from injuries suffered during a traffic stop earlier this month.
(Bloomberg) — Officials in Memphis released police bodycam footage late Friday of the beating of Tyre Nichols, a Black man who died from injuries suffered during a traffic stop earlier this month.
“I was outraged and deeply pained to see the horrific video of the beating that resulted in Tyre Nichols’ death,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “It is yet another painful reminder of the profound fear and trauma, the pain, and the exhaustion that Black and Brown Americans experience every single day.”
Nichols, 29, died on Jan. 10, three days he was pulled over by Memphis police officers for reckless driving and a “confrontation” occurred, police said. The five officers involved, all Black, were fired, and on Thursday the Shelby County district attorney announced they had been charged with murder and kidnapping. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said the investigation is ongoing.
Lawyers for the Nichols family said police used a stun gun and pepper spray and physically restrained Nichols, and that they had treated him like a “human piñata.” The release of the footage to the public had been delayed while the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office conducted an investigation into the incident.
Nichols’ family viewed the footage on Monday, District Attorney Steve Mulroy said in a statement. Ahead of the video’s release, Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells asked that supporters “protest in peace,” the Associated Press reported.
Biden also urged that any protests be peaceful, while acknowledging the anger caused by the attack.
“Violence is never acceptable; it is illegal and destructive,” the president said. “I join Mr. Nichols’ family in calling for peaceful protest.”
Rallies had been called in New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and other major cities across the US. The majority of the pre-planned rallies were scheduled after the video’s release. Other rallies are expected throughout the weekend. White House officials, including Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall, held a call earlier Friday with mayors of more than a dozen major cities to brief them on federal preparations for possible protests.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis called the incident “heinous, reckless and inhumane” in a Thursday address. The chief also told CNN that the department has been unable to find anything to substantiate the reckless driving stop.
The video drew immediate comparisons to the 1991 beating of Black motorist Rodney King by four members of the Los Angeles Police Department. The following year, after the officers in that case were acquitted of charges, the city boiled over with days of civil unrest.
It also follows the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by a White Minneapolis police officer. Viral cell-phone video showing former officer Derek Chauvin with his knee on Floyd’s neck as the Black man struggled to breathe and called for his mother sparked global protests and unrest.
In a statement released ahead of the Memphis video’s distribution, NAACP President Derrick Johnson urged Congress to pass police-reform legislation. “We know just how much all of you will be thinking and praying upon the release of the video, you don’t need to mention it,” he said. “We can name all the victims of police violence, but we can’t name a single law you have passed to address it.”
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