A video of an arrest that resulted in the death of a motorist is going to be made public in Tennessee, and Vice President Joe Biden is asking for calm during the demonstrations that are taking place there.
On Friday, the video from the bodycam that was used during the incident with Tyre Nichols, 29, will be made public, and attorneys for his family have stated that it will show him being severely beaten.
Following Mr. Nichols’s death several days after a traffic stop on January 7, five policemen, all of whom have since been dismissed, have been charged with his murder.
It has been reported that Memphis is on edge, so the police force there has upped their patrols.
After watching the film for the first time on Thursday, the Director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, David Rausch, stated that he was “extremely appalled” by the behavior of the police and that he was sickened by what he saw.
Counsel for the family stated that Mr. Nichols, who is black, was stopped on his way home after photographing the sunset at a nearby park by five police officers who are also black.
According to the authorities, he was accused of driving recklessly.
According to the local authorities, the initial altercation took place when Mr. Nichols attempted to flee on foot as officers approached his automobile.
They said that a second altercation took place when law enforcement officers attempted to apprehend him.
After then, Mr. Nichols reportedly complained of having difficulty breathing and was rushed to the hospital, where the police say he is currently classified in critical condition.
The tape from Mr. Nichols’ body camera allegedly shows him being pepper sprayed, shocked with a stun gun, detained, and kicked, according to a lawyer for Mr. Nichols’ family.
He compared what had happened to the infamous video evidence from more than three decades ago that showed police officers in Los Angeles beating a black motorist named Rodney King.
All five of the cops are being charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct, and official oppression. The victim was shot and killed by the officers.
Thursday marked the day that the arrests of Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III, and Justin Smith were made official. They had all joined the Memphis Police Department during the previous six years, yet they were all dismissed from their positions one week ago.
“Lack of humanity in its most fundamental form”
On Thursday, Vice President Biden issued a statement in which he urged people to be calm as officials prepared to disclose the tape on Friday evening (local time).
He said, “I join Tyre’s family in calling for peaceful protest,” and that was what he meant by the phrase. “While outrage is justified, violence should never be tolerated under any circumstances.”
Carolyn Davis, the chief of police for the city of Memphis and the first black woman to hold that position in Memphis, issued a similar plea for calm in the face of what she described as a “failure of basic compassion toward another individual.”
A review of the video evidence of the arrest that took place earlier this week was conducted in secret by the Nichols family and their legal team.
The contents of which were described by the attorney Antonio Romanucci as “he was a human piata.” “This young youngster was subjected to three minutes of unrelenting, unrepentant, and nonstop beatings,” the witness said.
During a news conference held on Thursday, attorneys for two of the former cops stated that their clients intended to contest the charges that have been brought against them.
A lawyer for one of the men indicated that “no one out there that night intended for Tyre Nichols to die,” and the statement was made by the lawyer.
On January 10, officials stated that Mr. Nichols “succumbed to his injuries,” but they did not disclose any other information. There is currently no known explanation for the death that has been made public.
His family describes him as a “nice child” who enjoyed activities such as photography and skating. They said he will be remembered fondly.
Relatives claim that the man, who was a father of one and worked for the shipping and delivery corporation FedEx, suffered from Crohn’s disease and had a significant decrease in weight.
According to Reverend Al Sharpton, a leader in the civil rights movement in the United States, the alleged crime was especially distressing because of the cops’ color.
He claimed, “We battled to put blacks in the police force.” The fact that they behaved in such a cruel manner is more atrocious than I can convey to you at this time.
“I do not believe these five black police officers would have done this had he been a young white man,” he continued to say. “I have no reason to believe that.”
According to Adanté Pointer, a trial lawyer located in California, cases of black men being slain by black police officers are rarely reported in the media.
According to what he said to the BBC, “This example illustrates that it is not merely a white against the black issue, but rather that this is a power dynamic that plays itself out no matter the race of the police officers.”
An inquiry into possible violations of Mr. Nichols’ civil rights has been started by both the FBI and the Department of Justice.
The involved officers are all part of a specialized unit known as Scorpion, which is an acronym for “Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods.”
According to the head of the city’s police department, the specialized units in the city, including the one that was designed specifically to patrol high-crime areas, are all currently undergoing a review.
Rosy