Earlier this month, Tyre Nichols was pulled over for a traffic stop. Lawyers for Nichols’ family say that video footage shows that, shortly after being pulled over, five police officers beat up Nichols, sending him into critical care at the hospital where he died three days later from the injuries.
All five of the officers involved were fired from the Memphis Police force after the incident, and on Thursday, the five were charged with murder.
According to CNN, “The former officers, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills Jr., have each been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two charges of aggravated kidnapping, two charges of official misconduct and one charge of official oppression.”
What happened to Tyre Nichols?
The incident took place on Jan. 7, and the 29-year-old died on Jan. 10. Nichols is Black and the five former officers are also Black.
On Jan. 16, his family hired Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney who also represented Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Michael Brown, who were also Black people that died through police violence. Soon after, the Department of Justice began an investigation. The Memphis Police also began an internal investigation into the officers’ actions, The New York Times reported.
“The news today from Memphis officials that these five officers are being held criminally accountable for their deadly and brutal actions gives us hope as we continue to push for justice for Tyre,” family attorneys Crump and Antonio Romanucci said in a statement sent to Deseret News. “This young man lost his life in a particularly disgusting manner that 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.”
Nichols had a 4-year-old son and enjoyed skateboarding during his free time outside of his job at FedEx, the Deseret News reported. Friends and family of Nichols held a prayer vigil in his honor Thursday night at the skatepark he used to visit when he had free time, per an attorney statement to the Deseret News.
President Joe Biden said about Nichols’ death that it is a “painful reminder that we must do more to ensure that our criminal justice system lives up to the promise of fair and impartial justice, equal treatment, and dignity for all,” per CNN.
Body cam footage of Tyre Nichols beating released Friday
The police camera footage will be released publicly at 6 p.m. Friday.
Many are comparing the video to footage of the violent police beating of Rodney King that prompted riots and protests in California in the 1990s. Some have described it as “appalling,” “heinous” and “inhumane,” according to CNN.
“This case exemplifies that it is not simply a white versus black issue, but instead that this is a power dynamic that plays itself out no matter the race of the police officers,” civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton told the BBC.
Correction: A previous version of this story said Rodney King was beaten to death by police in the 1990s. He survived the beating and passed away in 2012.