United States: published videos of the violent arrest of Tire Nichols, the black driver who died after the beating of 5 policemen

The authorities of Memphis, in the state of Tennessee, in the United States, released this Friday a series of videos showing the violent arrest of Tire Nichols, the 29-year-old black driver who died after suffering a brutal beating by five police officers . .

Nichols died on January 10 in hospital, three days after a vehement confrontation with five police officers who tried to stop him for a traffic violation. For their part, Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr. and Emmitt Martin III were charged with murder, assault, battery and kidnapping.

The most graphic video is one captured by a security camera located atop a light pole. From above, you can see how the cops gave him kickssome of them in the head, fist blows and even with a stick.

Another of the recordings matches the body cameras the officers wore on their chests. Nichols is seen pulling him out of his vehicle and trying to pin him to the ground, until he breaks free and runs away.

At that moment the agents ask for reinforcements to look for the young African American. In another video, Nichols appears when he is finally captured by the agents, who forcefully beat him several times. They also use pepper spray and a taser.

“I’m just trying to get home,” “mommy, mommy” and “give me a minute” are some of the cries the man yells. His house was just over 90 meters from the site. In that same recording, the agents are heard insulting the prisoner. while the victim yells “mommy, mommy” and “give me a minute”.

Against this backdrop, US Attorney General Merrick Garland promised on Friday that there would be an investigation into Nichols’ death and called for any protests about this event to be peaceful.

Biden called for “a prompt, full and transparent investigation”

President Joe Biden issued a statement on Thursday calling for a “rapid, complete and transparent investigations“of the case.

The president also added that violence “should have no place in peaceful protests,” while acknowledging that police killings affect black communities “unevenly.”

He also said he will ask Congress to do it pass a police reform billnamed in memory of George Floyd, who was blocked in the Senate during his first year in office.

an unclear incident

The details of what happened are still not entirely clear. Nichols is known to have been pulled over while driving in an area in southeast Memphis. The officers who arrested him were part of the Scorpion Unit, a group of specialized officers created in 2021 to work in neighborhoods where crime and violence are endemic.

In their first official statement on the case, police said “a confrontation” ensued as officers approached Nichols’ car and the driver apparently ran away. According to the statement, there was “another confrontation” as police managed to detain Nichols.

The report was supplemented with information that, at one point, Nichols complained that he could not breathe. At that point, an ambulance would be called to take the man to the hospital.

Crump, one of the family’s lawyers, said the video showed Nichols being held, pepper sprayed and shocked with a taser when he was stopped near his home. He was walking home from a park where he had gone to photograph the sunset.

Nichols’ family showed photos of the man hospitalized, wearing a respirator and his face swollen and bruised. According to relatives, “the police beat him beyond recognition.”

“It was an uninterrupted beating, pure and simple, which lasted three minutes,” said Antonio Romanucci, one of the family’s lawyers. Nichols died three days after the confrontation with police.