MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE - JANUARY 27: Civil rights attorney Ben Crump comforts RowVaughn Wells, mother of Tyre Nichols, during a press conference on January 27, 2023 in Memphis, Tennessee. Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, died three days after being severely beaten by five Memphis Police Department officers during a traffic stop on January 7, 2023. Memphis and cities across the country are bracing for potential unrest when the city releases video footage from the beating to the public later this evening. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
On Friday, Memphis authorities released a video of a violent beating of Tyre Nichols by police officers. The footage, which is over an hour long, shows the officers holding down and repeatedly striking the 29-year-old Black motorist as he screams for his mother before dying.
This video was released one day after the officers involved were charged with murder in Nichols’ death.
The legal team for the Nichols family has compared this assault to the well-known 1991 police beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles.
The footage also includes an officer saying he will use a baton on Nichols, and shows one officer raising his baton while other officers hold Nichols down. After the beating, officers are seen standing around for several minutes as Nichols lies propped against a car, then slumped onto the street.
(Full video HERE.)
As The Shade Room previously reported, the footage has been shown to Nichols’ family. Memphis Police Director Cerelyn “CJ” Davis has asked residents to “protest peacefully” once the footage goes public.
This is not just a professional failing. This is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual.
Five former Memphis police officers have been charged with second-degree murder in the death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols. According to CBS News, the announcement was made by Tennessee authorities on Thursday.
All five are out of jail after posting bond as of Friday morning, per NBC reports. Bean, Mills and Smith posted $250,000 bond; Haley and Martin posted $350,000 bond.
