Bodycam footage will be released on Friday night of the beating of Tyre Nichols, which has seen five police officers charged with his murder.
The 29-year-old father, a black man, was pulled over for alleged reckless driving in Memphis, Tennessee on January 7, with lawyers for his family stating he had been heading home after taking pictures of the sunset at a local park.
Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis said on Friday morning, in an interview with CNN, that the footage could not substantiate the reckless driving claim and compared the footage to the Rodney King beating that sparked race riots in Los Angeles in 1991.
Nichols is believed to have had a confrontation with the officers, who are also black, before fleeing on foot. Officers then caught up and attempted to arrest him.
He was then, according to family lawyer Antonio Romanucci, treated like "a human piñata" as the officers adminstered a vicious beating.
Tyre Nichols = Rodney King, Part 2
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) January 27, 2023
Davis said: "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 enforcemen.
"Individuals watching will feel what the family felt. And if you don’t, then you’re not a human being."
Nichols, who called out for his mother during the beating, was hospitalised and died three days later. A cause of death has not yet been released.
The Nichols family held a news conference ahead of the release of the footage, accompanied by attorneys and the Southern Environmental Law Centre, with lawyer Ben Crump blaming the "culture" of the police regardless of the race of officers, repeating the mantra "call out the culture".
He said: "It is the institutionalized police culture of the excessive use of force against Black and Brown people… it cannot be tolerated… the culture allowed them to think they could do this to Tyre Nichols."
Read More: Firefighter passes away after battling blaze at Edinburgh's Jenners building
The five officers are in custody and all facing charges of second degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.
The officers in question were wearing bodycams and the footage will be made public by the Memphis police at around 11pm UK time on Friday.
A statement from president Joe Biden was released ahead of the footage being made available.
He said: "Jill and I extend our heartfelt condolences to the family of Tyre Nichols and the entire Memphis community. Tyre’s family deserves a swift, full, and transparent investigation into his death.
"As Americans grieve, the Department of Justice conducts its investigation, and state authorities continue their work, I join Tyre’s family in calling for peaceful protest. Outrage is understandable, but violence is never acceptable. Violence is destructive and against the law. It has no place in peaceful protests seeking justice.
Read More: Unions submit 12 per cent pay rise claim to Scotland's councils
"Public trust is the foundation of public safety and there are still too many places in America today where the bonds of trust are frayed or broken. Tyre’s death 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.
"We also cannot ignore the fact that fatal encounters with law enforcement have disparately impacted Black and Brown people.
"To deliver real change, we must have accountability when law enforcement officers violate their oaths, and we need to build lasting trust between law enforcement, the vast majority of whom wear the badge honorably, and the communities they are sworn to serve and protect.
"That is why I called on Congress to send the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to my desk. When they didn’t, I signed an executive order that included stricter use of force standards and accountability provisions for federal law enforcement, as well as measures to strengthen accountability at the state and local level.
"Today, we all must re-commit ourselves to the critical work that must be done to advance meaningful reforms."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here