The authorities of this large city in Tennessee, who have already warned against the nature shocking
et horrifying
of these images, urged the population to calm before demonstrations planned in reaction to this publication.
Divided into four different sequences, the video which lasts about an hour shows images the initial traffic check, the one near Tyre’s house, and [des images issues] of the portable camera of several people on site
according to the police.
WARNING: the following video includes images that may shock some people.
A still from surveillance video showing Tire Nichols after he was arrested by Memphis police.
Photo: City of Memphis
Tire Nichols was arrested by police for a traffic offense on January 7. One confrontation took place
with officers and the suspect fled
according to law enforcement.
Caught up, Tire Nichols was arrested in circumstances that the authorities did not want to reveal. But, according to footage released on Friday, officers used a Taser and pepper spray, along with what appears to be tear gas to subdue him before beating him for three minutes.
The fourth and last sequence is taken from a surveillance camera. There is no sound, but it shows officers holding down Tire Nichols while other officers kick him in the head and other parts of his body. He is handcuffed during this time.
Tire Nichols, on the ground, after his arrest by Memphis police
Photo: City of Memphis
Once subdued, he appears seated on the ground and leaning against one of the police cars parked in the street. He falls several times, then one of the policemen shouts at him: Get up, you motherfucker!
Several officers are heard snickering.
Complaining of having difficulty breathing, Tire Nichols was hospitalized and died three days later.
In the video, Tire Nichols is heard calling his mother three times: Mom, mom, mom!
He was a few blocks from his home when he was arrested, according to his family.
The time that elapsed before the victim received medical treatment also raises questions. According to images released Friday, rescuers arrived about 10 minutes later, but did not provide first aid to the young man, lying on the ground, visibly unconscious. It will not be examined until about twenty minutes later.
Reacting minutes after the explosive video was made public, President Joe Biden said to himself scandalized
et deeply bruised
.
The five police officers involved in the arrest of Tire Nichols have been fired, arrested and charged with murder, assault and kidnapping.
Photo : Archyde.com
The five police officers – Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith – have been charged with murder and arrested. Four of them were later released on bail.
On Thursday, Shelby County District Attorney Steven Mulroy said the five officers involved face the following charges: second-degree murder, concerted action, aggravated kidnapping, embezzlement in the line of duty and abuse authority in the exercise of their functions. Fired last week, these officers had joined the ranks of the Memphis police force for the past six years.
calls for calm
Tire Nichols’ family attorney, Ben Crump, praised the speed with which the officers were arrested, regardless of their ethnicity. It’s America’s police culture that’s behind Tyre’s death
he said.
In Washington, President Biden, who claims to have spoken with the victim’s family, called in a press release for a rapid, complete and transparent investigation
on this tragedy and called for the demonstrations to be peaceful
.
WARNING: the following video includes images that may shock some people.
High tensions in the United States after the broadcast of a video showing the brutal arrest of Tire Nichols, an African-American intercepted for a simple traffic violation. The 29-year-old died three days after being arrested and beaten by five black police officers in Memphis. They were all charged yesterday with second degree murder. Converse by Frederic Arnould.
What are you going to do
Of the answers
and acts
: Around 50 protesters gathered Friday night in Memphis to demand justice after the publication of the video showing the violent arrest of Tire Nichols.
What are you going to do
asks a demonstrator armed with a megaphone at the martyrs park
from downtown Memphis, speaking to the city’s police chief.
From 6:00 p.m. Friday evening (00:00 GMT Saturday), the few dozen demonstrators set off to cries of No justice, no peace
.
They quickly manage to block a major axis of the city, causing major traffic jams.
If we decided to come there this evening, it is firstly because the family (of Tyre Nichols) told us that if we demonstrate, we must do it peacefully
says LJ Abraham, a community activist from Memphis.
New York police detain a protester, the day a video showing police beating Tire Nichols was released on January 27, 2023.
Photo : Archyde.com / EDUARDO MUNOZ
The procession continues on its way to a bridge spanning the Mississippi River and also blocks traffic there on its four lanes.
The demonstrators present are not all from Memphis, some came from neighboring states, prior to the publication of the video.
Despite the unrest expected by the authorities at the time of the publication of the video, downtown Memphis remains calm, and businesses open.
In the morning, a few police patrolled on horseback, but it was mostly tourists who mainly roamed the streets of the world capital of the blues.
Demonstrators march through the streets of Washington to protest the death of Tire Nichols.
Photo: Getty Images / Tasos Katopodis
In addition, police forces in other cities, such as Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas and New York, are also on the alert. Some have contingency plans in place in the event that major protests or even unrest occur.
The US Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that it is coordinating its efforts with all levels of government and affected communities in an effort to keep the population safe. And two Joe Biden advisers have spoken to the mayors of 16 US cities about the protests.
By early evening, protesters were beginning to gather in Washington, even before the video was released. No justice, no peace
they intoned, while a video of Tire Nichols was projected on the facade of a nearby building.
” Like a pinata »
The case finds a particular echo in a country still marked by the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in May 2020, and the demonstrations against racism and police violence which followed, united around the Black Lives Matter movement (La vie of blacks counts). The drama has reignited the debate over police violence in the country.
On Thursday, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis clarified that the video in question was comparable
to the one showing the violent arrest of Rodney King in 1991, even worse
that this one. The acquittal, a year later, of the four police officers involved sparked unprecedented riots in Los Angeles.
RowVaughn Wells, the mother of Tyre Nichols, warned the people of Memphis against nature horrible
pictures of the drama. She claims not to have seen the video, unlike her husband, but she saw with her own eyes the abuse suffered by her son when she visited him in hospital, a few hours after his beating.
Residents of Memphis, Tennessee hold a candlelight vigil for Tire Nichols, 29, who died three days after being brutally arrested by five police officers on January 7, 2023.
Photo : Associated Press / Gerald Herbert
When my husband and I arrived at the hospital and saw my son, he was already dead. They had reduced him to mush. He had bruises all over, his head was swollen like a watermelon
she said in tears in an interview with CNN on Friday, shortly before the broadcast of the video showing the brutal arrest of her son.
pinata“,”text”:”Where did their humanity go? They beat my son like a pinata””>Where has their humanity gone? They beat my son like a pinata
she continued, in reference to the decorated object that children explode to collect candies and toys during birthday parties, a tradition imported from Mexico.
Tyre liked to skateboard […] and went out every night to watch the sunset and take pictures
she says. He had a tattoo with my name on his arm […] Does this sound like someone who disrespects the police?
Despite her distress, she said she hopes neither her city nor any other will go up in flames. When the video comes out it will be awful but I want you to protest peacefully
she launched Thursday evening to the crowd who paid tribute to her son.
I don’t want you to burn the towns, devastate the streets, because that’s not what my son would have wanted, she insisted, and because we have to live there.
As for the officers, this grieving mother assured CNN the complain
. They shame their family, the African American community
she asserted.
With information from CNN, France Media Agency, The Washington Post, et Associated Press