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Demonstrations Begin Across The Country As Memphis Releases Footage Of Tyre Nichols Beating

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The City of Memphis publicly disclosed footage Friday showing the Jan. 7 arrest of Tyre Nichols as protesters mourned his death.

Five black officers were fired and charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression in connection with Nichols’ death, according to Axios. In the earliest police body camera video released Friday, officers pull Nichols out of a vehicle and bring him to the ground before he runs away down the street, while later footage shows officers catching Nichols on another street, ultimately beating him and dragging him up against a car.

“Like so many, I was outraged and deeply pained to see the horrific video of the beating that resulted in Tyre Nichols’ death,” President Joe Biden said Friday. “It is yet another painful reminder of the profound fear and trauma, the pain, and the exhaustion that Black and Brown Americans experience every single day.”

The MPD had said Nichols was pulled over for “reckless driving,” and he ultimately died in the hospital three days later. Demonstrators began marching in Memphis prior to the footage’s release, the Daily Caller’s Jorge Ventura reported from the scene.

Some protestors in the city shut down a major highway Friday evening, chanting, “No, Justice, No Peace,” Ventura said.

Demonstrations were organized in cities including New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Seattle, according to the New York Post. “If you need to express your anger and outrage, do so peacefully,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said.

Nichols family lawyer Antonio Romanucci watched the arrest footage Monday, ABC News reported. He said Nichols had been “defenseless the entire time” and used like a “human piñata for those police officers.”

FBI Director Christopher Wray had reported seeing the footage before it was publicly released, saying, “I’ve seen the video myself and I will tell you I was appalled. I’m struggling to find a stronger word but I will just tell you I was appalled,” according to Fox News.