Featured Image Credit: Facebook / Memphis Police
Topics: US News
Emma Guinness
After five police officers were charged with murdering Tyre Nichols, who died during a traffic stop, bodycam footage has now been released showing Nichols being brutally beaten.
US President Joe Biden has described the video as 'horrific' and 'another painful reminder of the profound fear and trauma, the pain, and the exhaustion that Black and Brown Americans experience every single day'.
The shocking footage from my 7 January shows what happened at the deadly traffic stop in Memphis, Tennessee, that began with Nichols, 29, being dragged out of his car and stressing that he 'didn't do anything'.
"You guys are really doing a lot right now," the young Black man can be heard saying to the officers. "I'm just trying to go home."
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Police initially claimed Nichols was stopped due to reckless driving, but there is no evidence of this in the video and police have since admitted that there appeared to be 'no justification' for the traffic stop.
Nichols is also not seen to resist police.
Officers can then be seen tasering Nichols, before he tries to flee the scene and they chase him.
When he is apprehended once more, pepper spray is used, but this does not go to plan, and some of the liquid gets into the officers' eyes.
They proceeded to beat him with a baton after taking a moment to recover.
"I'm going to baton the f*** out you," one of the officers can be heard saying.
This horrific act of violence went on for a number of minutes before the officers stopped to debrief each other on the attack, which also saw them punch the 29-year-old in the face.
Nichols died three days later on 10 January. The results of his autopsy have not yet been released.
Nichols' death - which comes less than three years after George Floyd's now notorious murder at the hands of US police - has prompted renewed concerns about police brutality.
This resulted in a number of peaceful demonstrations in various cities, including Memphis, against this ongoing violence.
Five officers - Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills Jr. - have now been taken into police custody, court documents revealed.
They are facing charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.
They have all since been released from custody after posting their bonds.
Memphis Police Director Cerelyn 'CJ' Davis said the video shows that they were 'already ramped up, at about a 10' and were 'aggressive, loud, using profane language and probably scared Mr Nichols from the very beginning'.
She ultimately branded their behaviour as 'heinous, reckless and inhumane'.
There were additional officers at the scene, and they too are under investigation, according to Davis.