Content warning: The following article details graphic content relating to the murder of Tyre Nichols and footage that contains extreme violence. Proceed with caution.
The Memphis Police Department released body camera footage from the beating of Tyre Nichols today at 6 p.m. Central TIme, three weeks after Nichols’ death.
On the night of Jan. 7, five Memphis police officers from the SCORPION (Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods) Unit stopped 29-year-old father, FedEx employee and skateboarder Tyre Nichols on suspicion of reckless driving.
Three days later, Nichols was pronounced dead due to injuries he sustained during a “use-of-force incident with officers,” according to a statement from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Tyre Nichols is remembered by friends and family as a “free spirit.” Nichols was an avid skateboarder, deeply invested in California skate culture, his home state. His mother, RowVaughn Wells, told the press at a conference this morning how Nichols loved sunsets.
“He liked to watch the sunset and take pictures— that was his thing,” Wells said. “He loved photography, he loved skateboarding, he was his own person. My son was a beautiful soul, he was a good boy. Nobody is perfect, but he was close.”
Until today, what exactly occurred on the night of the assault was unclear, the only information given were that there were several altercations, tasers, pepper spray and restraining involved. The five officers involved in the several-minute long beating of Nichols were fired by the Memphis Police Department on Jan. 20 after an internal investigation was conducted.
All that the country knew was that, in the words of Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis, “I expect our citizens to exercise their First Amendment right to protest, to demand action and results.”
In the four body cam clips and surveillance footage released, officers are filmed pulling Nichols out of his vehicle and slamming him to the ground. After a failed attempt at tasing Nichols, he then ran from the officers, with backup officers proceeding after him. After a half-mile run, officers caught up to him. Nichols was then kicked repeatedly in his head, had his face yanked up so that pepper spray could hit him directly in his eyes and nose, then pulled to his feet and slapped across the face by an officer.
Nichols screamed for his mother multiple times throughout the beating.
One body cam was seemingly removed for the beating, but the unblocked footage shows Nichols lying on the ground and convulsing as Memphis officers milled about, laughing and comparing their own injuries.
“He on something,” one officer claimed. “He’s high,” said another as others on the scene began to ask a disoriented Nichols, who couldn’t even keep his body upright against the vehicle the officers dragged him to “sit up.”
Leading up to the release of the video, Nichols’ stepfather Rodney Wells implored the public to remain peaceful in all protests arising from the video’s release.
“We want peace,” Mr. Wells said. “We need to do this peacefully.”
Earlier today, Leimert Park hosted Lora Dene King, the daughter of Rodney King, spoke. The Wells’ family attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci compared the MPD’s attack to the beating of King from 1991. This evening, in the wake of the “heinous” footage being released to the public, the community has gathered in Leimert Park in protest.
The Los Angeles Police Department released a statement regarding the protests, in the statement, they said they would be “closely monitoring” the situation and would ensure that the lawful demonstrations are protected. In downtown L.A, as the video was released, LAPD began to stage preparations for the protests according to an Instagram video by Correctional Health Services Los Angeles which are set to be large in scale and in outcry for the end of police violence in the United States.
This story is ongoing.