Crime & Justice

Footage shows brutal police beating of African-American who died later (ADDS TEXT, VIDEO)

Washington, Jan 28 (EFE).- The authorities in Memphis of the United States have released video of a brutal police encounter at a traffic stop before the death of an African-American man, Tyre Nichols.

The more than an hour of footage made public on Friday shows officers beating Nichols, who shows no signs of resistance or a fight back.

His death in a hospital days after the encounter with police earlier this month led to murder charges against at least five expelled officers from a special street crimes unit and provoked nationwide outrage.

The graphic footage, released in four parts, is from a CCTV on a lamppost and police-issued body-worn camera video.

One of the videos shows the cops kicking, some of them in the head, and hitting the 29-year-old FedEx worker with a baton.

A bodycam footage shows how Nichols is taken out of his car by some policemen who try to slump him on the ground.

“I’m just trying to get home,” he yells before he gets off the ground and runs from the police.

At that moment, the police requested reinforcements to search for the young African-American.

Another video at a second location shows Nichols screaming for his mom after officers finally captured him.

Cops kick and punch him several times while pepper spraying the black driver.

An officer is heard yelling at Nichols, hurling invectives at him.

One more recording shows Nichols sitting on the ground, leaning against a police cruiser and tied in handcuffs.

Ten minutes into the video, paramedics arrive in an ambulance, but Nichols appears to be unconscious.

Director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation David Rausch told reporters in a televised press conference that he was “sickened” by what he had seen.

Nichols was pulled over on Jan.7 by the Memphis police for alleged reckless driving.

However, the police have said the department has been unable to find anything on the probable cause for any traffic violation.

The accused officers were fired from the police department last week and face murder charges and other crimes related to Nichols’ death.

President Joe Biden said he was “outraged” and “deeply pained” after watching the video.

“It is yet another painful reminder of the profound fear and trauma, the pain, and the exhaustion that Black and Brown Americans experience every single day,” Biden said.

Biden spoke with RowVaughn Wells and Rodney Wells, Nichols’ mother and stepfather, on Friday afternoon.

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