Memphis, the main city in the state of Tennessee (USA), spent days with accumulated tension waiting for the release of a video with a new case of Police brutality against the black minority. It concerned the fatal beating of a 29-year-old man who was pulled over at a traffic post on January 7, and died three days later.
Memphis authorities were expected to release the photos on Friday starting at 6pm local time (1am Friday in Spain) and it happened five minutes later. As police officials and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation have already warned, the video is terrifying.
the Five agents Like the victim, all black, who was beaten They were kicked out of the police force On January 20 and this week, after the authorities reviewed the evidence and watched the videos, they were charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault and kidnapping.
The duration of the posted photos is about an hour and they are divided into Four videosThree body cameras and a surveillance camera at the corner of the intersection where the beating took place.
The first body camera video shows the arrest of the victim, who was forcibly removed from the vehicle by agents and thrown to the ground. Although he was immobilized, the policemen were unable to put handcuffs on him. They try to reduce it with A shot from a stun gun – a weapon with electric shocks – and pepper spray, but Nichols managed to extricate himself and escape. In the video, a customer is seen protesting about having sprayed himself, and a co-worker criticizes him for having hit him too.
The beating takes place soon after, when they manage to catch him again. It is located less than a hundred yards from the Nichols home. In fact, he was heard shouting “Mom!” Several times trying to attract the attention of his relatives.
The surveillance camera is the best at catching attacks. Despite Nichols’ protests, the officers kicked him in the face and punched him while Nichols was pinned to the ground. When they manage to put handcuffs on him and straighten him out, the blows don’t stop punched in the face. At one point in the body camera footage, Nichols is heard saying that it is not “enough” anymore, with his face covered in blood. This does not prevent the strikes from continuing. A customer comes to get a metal club and hears someone say, “I’m going to fuck you with clubs.”
After the beating, Nichols was left lying motionless on a police car. It is not clear if he was unconscious by then. The agents who hit him don’t help him, nor do the rest of the agents who arrive on the scene (some of the kicks happened when they were actually there). Everyone around talking about what happened and not paying attention to the victim.
First aid takes 26 minutes to arrive. Corpses of cops cover Nichols’ first care, and it is not clear what his condition is at that moment. The ambulance arrived four minutes later.
As expected, the release of the video was accompanied by protests in Memphis and other cities across the country. Both the Nichols family and the authorities called out to be peaceful.
«I am terrified and very hurt After watching the horrific video of the beating that ended in Nichols’ death, the President of the United States responded, Joe BidenIn a statement, he asserted that this case is “another painful reminder of the deep fear, trauma, pain, and exhaustion that Black and brown Americans experience every day.”
The president demanded that the protests be peaceful.Violence is absolutely unacceptable, it is illegal and destructive.and that Congress pass police reforms at the national level.
