Video footage of 29-year-old father Tyre Nichols being beaten by police in Memphis is being released later, with the city braced for protests. So what do we know and don’t know?
It’s been almost three weeks since a traffic stop in Memphis led to a violent arrest and, three days later, the death of the 29-year-old Black driver.
Tyre Nichols was hospitalized after he was pulled over on January 7, police have said. Five Memphis Police Department officers, who also are Black, were fired after an internal investigation and are facing criminal charges, including second-degree murder charges.
Authorities have released few details on what led to Nichols’ arrest and what exactly happened after he was pulled over. Here is what we know so far about his death and the aftermath.
Video shows Tyre Nichols calling for his mother, beaten by officers
The city on Friday late evening released body camera and surveillance video of the January 7 traffic stop and beating that led to the 29-year-old’s death in hospital from his injuries three days later. The release comes a day after five Memphis police officers, who also are Black and have been fired, were charged with murder.
Tyre Nichols screamed for his mother and Memphis police officers beating him multiple times – including in the face while his hands were restrained – toward the end of the Black man’s deadly encounter with the officers this month, video released by the city shows.
Nichols appears to be left on the pavement alone for extended periods of time before an ambulance arrives, even though paramedics arrive minutes after officers disengaged.
What happened to Tyre Nichols during the traffic stop?
On the night of Jan. 7 around 8:30 p.m. Nichols, a 29-year-old father and FedEx worker who has been described by family as an avid skateboarder, was returning home from a suburban park where he had taken photos of the sunset, according to his family’s attorneys. On the way home, he was stopped for reckless driving, according to a statement from the Memphis Police Department. Nichols ran after a “confrontation” occurred when police tried to detain him, police said. He continued A second “confrontation” also occurred at some point before Nichols was ultimately arrested.
Memphis Police Director Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said in a Jan. 27 interview on CNN that investigators “have not been able to substantiate” the initial report of reckless driving.
Police said that, following the arrest, Nichols “complained of having a shortness of breath, at which time an ambulance was called.” Nichols was taken to a hospital in critical condition, police said.
Three days later, on Jan. 10, Nichols “succumbed to his injuries,” the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said, but did not elaborate on what those injuries were. An official cause of death has not been released.
What Tyre Nichols’ family said
Rodney Wells, Nichols’ stepfather, told CBS affiliate WREG-TV his stepson suffered a cardiac arrest and kidney failure because of a beating by the officers.
“When we got to the hospital, it was devastating,” Wells said. “All of that still should not occur because of a traffic stop. You shouldn’t be on a dialysis machine looking like this because of a traffic stop. That’s inhumane.”
Attorneys for the family said that an independent autopsy they commissioned found that Nichols suffered “extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating.” The full findings of the report were not made public.
What happened with involved officers?
Five officers charged in Tyre Nichols death
Five Memphis police officers were determined to be “directly responsible for the physical abuse of Mr. Nichols,” said thepolice chief Davis. The five officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills, Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith — were fired on Jan. 20. All are Black.
They were members of the so-called Scorpion unit, a group created by the department to focus on fighting street crime. A Nichols family attorney, Antonio Romanucci, said they were in unmarked cars when they stopped Nichols.
The five men, who are all Black, were booked at the Shelby County Jail, and all posted bond Thursday, with bonds ranging between $250,000 and $350,000.
Second-degree murder is punishable by 15 to 60 years in prison under Tennessee law.
What the bodycam footage show?
While the police’s bodycam video has not yet been publicly released, Nichols’ family and their attorneys, along with several Memphis authorities, have viewed the footage. The video is expected to be released Friday evening.
In a Jan. 23 press conference, family attorney Ben Crump called the video “heinous” and likened the police’s actions to the infamous 1991 beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police.
Crump said Nichols was Tased, pepper sprayed and restrained during the encounter. Another of the family’s attorneys, Antonio Romanucci, said police beat Nichols for three minutes.
“He was a human piñata for those police officers,” Romanucci said, adding at one point that the video showed an “unadulterated, unabashed, nonstop beating.”
Nichols’ mother, RowVaugn Wells, told “CBS Mornings” that when she saw the video, “All I heard my son say was, ‘What did I do?’ I just lost it from there.
She continued she was unable to bring herself to watch the video in full, which she said showed Nichols being brutally beaten and pepper-sprayed.
In a video statement, Memphis Police Chief Davis called the officers’ actions “heinous, reckless and inhumane.”
“This is not just a professional failing. This is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual,” she said.
Biden calls peaceful protests before release of ‘appalling’ footage
President Joe Biden stated “Nichols’ family deserves a “swift, full and fair investigation” into his death and called for “peaceful protests” after charges against the five former officers were announced.
“We cannot ignore the fact that fatal encounters with law enforcement have disparately impacted Black and Brown people,” Biden said, renewing his call for policing reform legislation that stalled in Congress last year.
Who was Tyre Nichols?
His family said Nichols was the baby of his family, the youngest of four children and he loved being a father to his son.
RowVaughn Wells, mother of Tyre Nichols says
He was a “good boy” who spent his Sundays doing laundry and getting ready for the week.
Nichols moved to Memphis before the Covid-19 pandemic and got stuck there when things shut down.
When he wasn’t working the second shift at FedEx, Nichols enjoyed photography and skateboarding, something he had been doing since he was 6.
Nichols had Crohn’s disease, a digestive issue, and was a slim 140 to 145 pounds despite his six-foot-three-inch height.
