Meanwhile, the Memphis community braces for possible protests in response to the video’s release Memphis-Shelby County Schools Friday and cancellation of after-school activities Southwest Tennessee Community College Moving to virtual classes on Friday.
Wells warned of the video’s contents, calling it “horrific” and asking people to protest peacefully after its release. “I don’t want us burning our cities and tearing up the streets because my son didn’t mean it,” she said.
Romanucci described Monday’s video as three minutes of “unadulterated, shameless, non-stop beating.” Crump said it reminded him of the “Rodney King video”, referring to the 1991 Spectator video. Los Angeles police officers beat a black man.
Nicholas’ mother spoke about her heartbreak in an interview that aired Friday morning CNNBy the time she got to the hospital, she continued to see Nichols arrested, “and he was already gone.”
“They beat him to a pulp. He had bruises on him, his head was swollen like a watermelon, his neck was cracked due to swelling, they broke his neck, my son’s nose was like an ‘S,'” she said.
Crump said Nichols’ last words in the video footage were three “gut-wrenching screams for his mom.”
President Joe Biden said in a statement Thursday that Nichols’ family deserves a “swift, thorough and transparent investigation.”
“Dyer’s death is a painful reminder that we must do more to ensure our criminal justice system lives up to its promise of fair and impartial justice, equal respect and dignity for all,” Biden said.
He insisted that any protests in the coming days must be peaceful, admitting that “the outrage is understandable.”
The five officers involved in the case — Tadarius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith — They were fired last week After an administrative investigation, they were found to have violated department policy in their use of authority.
More coverage on Tire Nicholls
All five officials were accused Thursday. Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told reporters their actions contributed to Nichols’ death.
Mulroy said after an “initial altercation” that Nichols ran from officers when “pepper spray” was used.
“Another altercation occurred nearby where Mr. Nichols sustained serious injuries,” Mulroy continued. “After a short wait, he was taken away by ambulance.”
All five former officials have been charged with second-degree murder, two counts of official misconduct, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, one count of official oppression and one count of aggravated assault, prosecutors announced Thursday.
The two officers, Mills and Smith, posted $250,000 bond and were released late Thursday. Haley, Martin and Bean were in custody Thursday night, jail records show. But as of early Friday morning, Haley was the only person behind bars, jail records show.
Several attempts were made to get comments from the authorities as they were fired but to no avail.
Attorneys for Mills and Martin plan to plead not guilty for their clients. It is unclear whether others have retained legal representation.
Davis Narrated the incident as “cruel, reckless and inhumane” in a video statement on Wednesday night.
“I hope you feel what the Nichols family is feeling,” he said. “I expect you to feel outraged at the disregard for basic human rights because our police officers have sworn to the contrary of what was revealed in the video.”
Preliminary findings in a Postmortem Attorneys for the family say Nicholas was severely beaten before his death, which was conducted by a forensic pathologist for the family program. The Shelby County Medical Examiner’s Office has not released an official cause of death.
Nichols’ case is being investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the US Department of Justice. It launched a civil rights investigation At a traffic stop.
David Kay Lee, Diane J. Hampton And Marilyn Lenthong Contributed.
