Protests kick off in wake of Tyre Nichols' beating death video release
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Protests began nationwide after authorities released video footage Friday showing Tyre Nichols being beaten by five Memphis police officers who held the Black motorist down and repeatedly struck him with their fists, boots, and batons as he screamed for his mother.
The video is filled with violent moments showing the officers, who are also Black, chasing and pummeling Nichols and leaving him on the pavement propped against a squad car as they fist-bump and celebrate their actions. The footage emerged one day after the officers were charged with murder in Nichols’ death.
Protesters gathered for mostly peaceful demonstrations in multiple cities, including Memphis, where several dozen demonstrators blocked the Interstate 55 bridge that carries traffic over the Mississippi River toward Arkansas. Semi-trucks were backed up for a distance. In Washington, dozens of protestors gathered in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House and near Black Lives Matter Plaza.
In New York, hundreds of protestors made their way through Midtown from Union Square to Times Square Friday night in the wake of Nichols' murder in Tennessee.
Demonstrators in other cities blocked traffic while they chanted slogans and marched through the streets of New York City, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon.
Court records showed that all five former officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith — were taken into custody.
The officers each face charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. Four of the five officers had posted bond and been released from custody by Friday morning, according to court and jail records.