Memphis: Video showing five Memphis police officers beating a black man has been made public, a day after they were charged with murder in the death of Tyre Nichols.
The footage shows Nichols being held down and screaming for his mother as the black officers savagely beat the 29-year-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.
Family members and supporters hold a photograph of Tyre Nichols at a news conference.Credit:AP
Cities across the country braced for large demonstrations. Nichols’ relatives urged supporters to protest peacefully.
“This young man, by definition of the law in this state, was terrorised. 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.
Demonstrators gather in Washington on Friday, to protest over the death of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers on January 7.Credit:AP
The officers “acted together … to inflict harm, terrorism, oppression of liberty, oppression of constitutional rights, which led to murder,” Romanucci said.
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 in an interview that 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,” Davis said.
More to come
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