Memphis Police Department Releases Bodycam Footage Showing Fatal Beating of Tyre Nichols [Video]

The Memphis Police Department has released the gruesome footage showing the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols.

The 29-year-old was hospitalized in critical condition and died three days after police beat him during a traffic stop earlier this month. Nichols was reportedly pulled over on Jan 7 for reckless driving and a “confrontation” occurred. However, the police chief said the department could not find anything that substantiated the probable cause for reckless driving. Nichols succumbed to his injuries on Jan 10.

According to attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, who is representing the family, an independent autopsy indicated Nichols “suffered extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating.”

The video of the incident released Friday evening shows officers severely beating Nichols, which many compare to the 1991 Los Angeles police beating of Rodney King that sparked protests and riots after the officers were acquitted.

Monday, the five officers involved in Nichols’s beating death– Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills Jr.– were fired from the department.  Thursday, the men were booked into the county jail and charged each with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two charges of aggravated kidnapping, two charges of official misconduct and one charge of official oppression. They have since bonded out.

Prior to the footage being released, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis warned that it would depict violence that is “heinous, reckless and inhumane.”

“I expect you to feel outrage in the disregard of basic human rights, as our police officers have taken an oath to do the opposite of what transpired on the video.”