The police chief of Memphis, United States, announced this Saturday the dismantling of the unit to which the agents caught on video beating Tire Nichols belonged, who ended up dying three days later in a hospital.
Cerelyn Davis said Nichols’ family members, community leaders and law enforcement officials were consulted.
Video of the fatal beating of a young Tyron Nichols by five police officers in Memphis, Tennessee, sparked protests in cities across the United States on Friday. Hundreds of people came out to protest in New York, Atlanta, Washington DC and Detroit.
Police released video of officers assaulting Nichols, who was pulled over for an alleged traffic violation. The most striking images are those captured by a surveillance camera installed on a street light pole, where you can see how the agents kicked Nichols, even in the head, and hit him with a bat.
US President Joe Biden was “outraged” after seeing the videos and called on people not to resort to violence to express their “justifiable” anger.
The officers involved in the beating have been fired from the police department and face a series of criminal charges in Nichols’ death.
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Friday promised an investigation into Nichols’ death and also called for the protests to be peaceful.
US police have been accused by human rights organizations of disproportionate use of violence against the country’s black population.
Nearly a third of all people killed by police in the US in 2021 were African American, despite making up only 13% of the country’s population.
Source: TSF
