Meanwhile, the Memphis community is bracing for potential protests in response to the video’s release, with Memphis-Shelby County Schools canceling after school activities on Friday and Community College of Southwest Tennessee moving to virtual classes on Friday.
Wells called on people to peacefully protest during a candlelight vigil in Memphis’ Tobey Park on Thursday night.
“I don’t want us to burn down our cities, tear up the streets, because that’s not what my son stood for,” he said.
Romanucci described the video Monday as an “unadulterated, brazen, non-stop beating” for three minutes. Crump has said that he reminded him of “the Rodney King video”, referring to a 1991 bystander video of LAPD officers beating a black man.
Nichols’ mother spoke about her anguish in an interview broadcast Friday morning on CNNsaying that when he arrived at the hospital and saw Nichols after the arrest, “he was already gone.”
“They had beaten him to a pulp. He had bruises all over, his head was swollen like a watermelon, his neck was burst with swelling, his neck was broken, my son’s nose looked like an “S”, he said.
Crump said Nichols’ last words in the video were three “heartbreaking screams for his mother.”
Davis described the incident as “egregious, reckless and inhumane” in a video statement Wednesday night.
“I hope you feel what the Nichols family feels,” he said. “I hope he is outraged by the disregard for basic human rights, as our police officers have sworn to do the opposite of what occurred in the video.”
Biden calls for a transparent investigation
FBI Director Christopher Wray spoke about the video of Nichols’ arrest during a separate press conference on Friday, saying: “I saw the video myself and I will tell you that I was horrified.”
President Joe Biden said in a statement Thursday that the Nichols family deserves a “prompt, full and transparent investigation.”
“Tyre’s death is a painful reminder that we must do more to ensure our criminal justice system delivers on the promise of fair and impartial justice, equal treatment, and dignity for all,” Biden said.
He also urged that the protests in the coming days be peaceful and acknowledged that “the outrage is understandable.”
More coverage of Tire Nichols
The charges
Five officers involved in the case — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith — were fired last week after an administrative investigation found they violated the department’s use-of-force policy.
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told reporters that the actions of the former officers resulted in Nichols’ death.
Mulroy said that after an “initial altercation” when “pepper spray was deployed,” Nichols fled from officers.
“There was another altercation at a nearby location, where Mr. Nichols sustained serious injuries,” Mulroy continued. “After a period of waiting time, an ambulance took him away.”
The fired officers were charged Thursday 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.
At Friday’s news conference, Nichols’ family and attorneys praised the speedy charges and investigation.
“We saw how quickly the district attorney filed charges against them in less than 20 days. Then we want to proclaim that this is the role model for any time any officer, whether black or white, is held accountable,” Crump said.
All five are out of jail after posting bail as of Friday morning. Bean, Mills and Smith posted $250,000 bond; Haley and Martin posted $350,000 bail.
Multiple attempts to reach the officers for comment since they were fired have been unsuccessful.
Attorneys for Mills and Martin said their clients plan to plead not guilty. It was not clear if the others have retained legal representation.
Preliminary findings in an autopsy by a forensic pathologist for Nichols’ family show that he was severely beaten before he died, attorneys for the family said. 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, which has launched a civil rights investigation into the traffic stop.
David K Li Y Deon J. hampton contributed.
