As Memphis, Tennessee, braced for potential social unrest, United States authorities on Thursday charged five former police officers with murder in connection with the deadly beating of a Black man. President Joe Biden urged protesters to demonstrate peacefully.
Tyre Nichols, 29, was pulled over on January 7 for allegedly driving recklessly, according to the Memphis Police Department.
Following a chase,
"police brutalized him to the point of being unrecognizable,"
according to a statement from family lawyers Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci.
The five officers, all of whom are Black, were fired after an internal inquiry revealed that they had used excessive force and had neglected to provide aid, according to the police.
According to the police, Nichols was rushed to the hospital in severe condition, where he passed away on January 10.
Police video of the arrest, according to officials, will be made public after 6:00 pm Central time on Friday.
The police assassination of Nichols immediately brought to mind the suffocation of another Black man, George Floyd, by a white police officer in Minneapolis in May 2020.
The swiftly disseminated video of Floyd's death sparked a nationwide surge of often violent protests that raised questions about racial inequality and police violence in the US.
The officers in
Memphis are also accused of aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping in
addition to second-degree murder.
District Attorney Steve Mulroy told CNN, "I don't think they'll have any questions about those charges after everyone watches the video."
The second largest city in Tennessee, Memphis, with a 65 percent African-American population.
Following their viewing of the video, the family lawyers claimed to have witnessed "the horrific way in which he lost his life at the hands of Memphis police."
The attorneys continued, "As we continue to fight for justice for Tyre, the news today from Memphis officials that these five cops are being held criminally liable for their lethal and violent conduct offers us hope.
Biden issued a calm call on Thursday, anticipating anger following the release of the footage.
“The president issued a statement in which he joined Tyre's family in calling for peaceful protest, adding that "Americans are grieving, the Department of Justice is conducting its investigation, and state authorities are doing their work."
"I was disgusted by what I witnessed"
Nichols' beating “points to the desperate need for change and reform to ensure this violence stops occurring during low-threat procedures, like in this case, a traffic stop.” the family's attorneys continued.
Despite attorneys for two of the five officers claiming their clients intended to post bail, all five of the cops charged with Nichols's murder have been brought into custody.
Desmond Mills Jr.'s ex-law enforcement representative Blake Ballin stated that his client and his family were experiencing "a lot of anxiety and pain, not only for his personal circumstances but for what this type of accusation, this kind of incident is doing to our city."
The lawyer continued, saying that he had not yet watched the incident's video.
At a news conference on Thursday, the director of the Tennessee Bureau of Inquiry, David Rausch, expressed his disgust at what he had witnessed and what the investigation had shown.
"They described an almost ideal son, a bright and pleasant kid who adored skating and sunsets over Shelby Farms Park," said district attorney Mulroy of the victim's family, who were inconsolable.
Derrick Johnson, head of the NAACP, a civil rights organization, said: "We can identify all the victims of police violence, but we can't name a single statute you have passed to address it
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