After the city of Memphis released the bodycam footage of the deadly incident between Tyre Nichols and police, protesters took to the streets across the country.
Hundreds of demonstrators peacefully protested on a Memphis freeway following the release of the video that shows police beating the young Black man as they attempted to arrest him following a traffic stop. Video captured protestors chanting on the I-55 bridge, “Stand up, fight back.” The protest wrapped up peacefully shortly before 10 p.m. without police interaction.
While many other protests around the country were just as peaceful and organized, things got a little intense in New York. In a now-viral video clip, protesters flood the streets of Times Square with one man seen standing on the hood of an NYPD vehicle. The white male stomps and punches the windshield of the cruiser, crushing the glass. Cops quickly swarmed him and threw the guy to the ground before cuffing him. However, protesters immediately gathered around to film the arrest and make sure nothing else happened to the guy. Another demonstrator is heard repeatedly telling the officers, “Easy, don’t hurt him.”
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The Friday-released videos consists of both body cam footage and street surveillance footage. The body cam footage shows the initial traffic stop by Memphis Police. Tyre Nichols is dragged out of his car and ordered to the ground. Although he complies and is calm, police still comes at him with full aggression and even use a Taser stun gun on him several times. Out of fear, Nichols gets up and runs from the scene.
In another video, shows officers holding Nichols to the ground, kicking and striking him several times. He is then dragged and lays in the street for several minutes. In another officer’s body camera video showing Memphis Police striking and pepper spraying Tyre Nichols in the street as he calls out “Mom!” several times.
Tyre Nichols died three days later from his injuries. Five now-former Memphis Police officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith — have since been fired for misconduct, and was also indicted by a grand jury Thursday and taken into custody. They have all since bonded out of jail.