Las authority Memphis, Tennessee, released footage of more than an hour Friday of the violent beating of Tyra Nichols by five police officers, which showed the officers grabbing the motorist and hitting him repeatedly as he screamed for his mother.
The video surfaced a day after authorities charged him with murder death of nicholasBlack too.
pictures show brutally beaten by the police fedex worker, The 29-year-old was hurled obscenities at her throughout the assault, for three minutes. The Nicholls family legal team compared the attack to the infamous 1991 police beating Rodney King in Los Angeles.
In the video, an officer is heard threatening to kill Nichols. His body cam shows him at least lifting the baton Another agent holds Nichols down.
After the first officer pulled Nichols out of his car, he is heard saying, “I didn’t do nothing,” as the group of officers began to pin him to the ground.
,Get down on the floor.” one officer shouts, while another is heard shouting, “Taser him.”
Shortly after being pushed to the ground, Nichols calmly replies: “Well, I’m on the ground.” Moments later, as the officers continue to yell, Nichols says, “Man, I’m on the ground.”
An officer yells, “Put your hands behind your back before I break your (derogatory) one.” Moments later, an officer yells, “Put your hands behind your back before I break them.”
“I’m just trying to get home,” Nichols told him at one point.
The camera blacks out briefly and then Nichols can be seen running away as an officer. The agents then begin pursuing Nichols.
After the beating, the officers huddled together for several minutes as Nichols cowered in front of the car, then collapsed in the street.
Cities across the country are gearing up for massive demonstrations. Relatives of Nicholls urged his supporters protest peacefully. “This young man, by definition of the law in this state, was intimidated. Not by one, not by two, but by five agents that we now know…they acted in concert,” the attorney said. Antonio Romanucci, who represents the Nichols family.
Romanucci said, “the authorities acted together … to cause harm, terrorism, oppression of freedom, suppression of constitutional rights, leading to murder”.
Director of Memphis Police, Cerelyn Davis, He described the officers’ actions as “egregious, reckless and inhumane” and said his department had been unable to prove the reckless driving charge that led to the arrest.
Given the potential for protests, Davis explained to ABC that she and other local officials decided it would be best to release the video late after school was over and people were home from work.
Court records showed that five former officers—Taddarius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith—were arrested. Four were released after posting bail.
Each officer faces charges of second degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, misconduct and harassment.
second degree murder is punishable by 15 to 60 years in prison under Tennessee law.
Below we share the video, but we warn you that Images are strong:
