Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
With hours to go before the release of traffic video showing a violent encounter between five Memphis police officers and Tire Nichols, Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray called on American society for “calm”both know that the images that will be public provoked the fury not only of the African-American community, but of Americans in general.
The official who was already able to see the video fell short when describing what happened.
“I’ll tell you, I was horrified,” Christopher Wray said, referring to what he saw on the video.
Attorney General Garland said he had not seen the video but had been briefed on its content, calling it “deeply disturbing.”
Both statements coincide with those of the legal representative of the Nichols family who indicated that the victim received a real “beating” over three minutes and that society should be prepared to see the video.
The Justice Department launched a separate civil rights investigation into Nichols’ death, while state authorities filed murder charges against the five officers who have since been dismissed from the force.
According to the authorities, Tire Nichols died as a result of injuries sustained while fleeing a traffic stop done three days before. As a result of the events, five Memphis Department agents who were present during the arrest (all of them African-American) were removed from their positions and charged with crimes related to injuries, including manslaughter.
The Nichols family and President Biden have called on society for a peaceful protest. “As Americans mourn his death, the Justice Department conducts its investigation, and state authorities continue their work, I join the Tire family in calling for peaceful protest. The outrage is understandable, but violence is never acceptable,” the president said.