Authorities in the United States charged five cops on Thursday with second-degree murder in connection with the deadly beating of a Black man during a traffic stop in the eastern state of Tennessee.
Tyre Nichols, 29, was stopped on January 7 for careless driving, according to the Memphis Police Department.
Following the pursuit, “police brutalised him to the point of being unrecognisable,” according to family lawyers Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci in a statement.
The five officers, who are also Black, were fired after an internal police investigation found them to have “violated multiple department policies, including excessive use of force, duty to intervene and duty to render aid,” the MPD said last Friday.
According to authorities, Nichols was taken to the hospital in severe condition and died on January 10.
“These officers were found to be directly responsible for the physical abuse of Mr Nichols,” Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said late Wednesday.
“This is not just a professional failing, this is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual. This incident was heinous, reckless and inhumane.”
Justin Smith, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, and Desmond Mills Jr., the five cops, were also charged with aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping. All of them are currently in police custody.
“The news today from Memphis officials that these five officers are being held criminally accountable for their deadly and brutal actions gives us hope as we continue to push for justice for Tyre,” the family’s lawyers said.
Officials have said that a video of the occurrence exists and would be made available shortly after 6 p.m. Central time on Friday (0000 GMT Saturday).
“After everyone sees the video, I don’t think they’ll have any questions about those charges,” District Attorney for Memphis Steve Mulroy told CNN.
Added Police Chief Davis: “I expect you to feel outrage in the disregard of basic human rights.”
Family lawyers who watched the clip said they had seen “with our own eyes the disgusting way in which he lost his life at the hands of Memphis police.”
The lawyers added that the beating of Nichols “points to the desperate need for change and reform to ensure this violence stops occurring during low-threat procedures, like in this case, a traffic stop.”
David Rausch, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation called the fatal beating “absolutely appalling” and said it “was wrong, this was criminal.”
Mulroy said the victim’s family was at a loss: “They described an almost perfect son, a cheerful and happy person who enjoyed skateboarding and sunsets over Shelby Farms Park.”
The death in 2020 of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man slain by a white police officer in Minneapolis, brought racial injustice and police brutality to the forefront.
“We can name all the victims of police violence,” said Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, a civil rights group, “but we can’t name a single law you have passed to address it.”