Officials Call for Calm When Arrest Video of Tyre Nichols Is Released
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Footage of the beating that killed Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis officials earlier this month will be released Friday evening.
Shelby County District Attorney General Steve Mulroy has called for calmness when the traffic stop video of now-deceased Memphian Tyre Nichols is released on Friday evening (January 27).
“You’re going to see a disregard for life, duty of care that we’re all sworn to and a level of physical interaction that is above and beyond what is required in law enforcement,” Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said during a press conference to the public on Friday morning, per CNN. “Individuals watching will feel what the family felt. And if you don’t, then you’re not a human being. And we all are human beings. And I think there will be a measure of sadness, as well.”
Davis shared that in the video, Nichols calls out to his mother, similar to the May 2020 arrest of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Referencing the 1991 footage of Rodney King being beaten by the LAPD, Davis added, “I would say it’s about the same, if not worse.”
On Thursday (January 26), five Memphis police officers were charged in the death of Nichols following a traffic stop on January 7. Former officials Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith were fired last week and found to be “directly responsible for the physical abuse of Mr. Nichols,” according to the MPD.
Nichols fled his vehicle during a traffic stop and after a brief pursuit, responding officers captured the 29-year-old. Nichols required hospitalization after the arrest and died on January 10.
Police officials in a number of cities are now monitoring the possibility of violent demonstrations that may take place over the weekend. During a vigil on Thursday, Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, asked demonstrators to “protest in peace.”
“I don’t want us burning up our cities, tearing up the streets, because that’s not what my son stood for,” she said. “And if you guys are here for me and Tyre, then you will protest peacefully.”
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