Tyre Nichols: Video released of confrontation with Memphis police
Body camera video was released Friday showing the confrontation between Memphis police officers and 29-year-old Tyre Nichols after he was pulled over at a traffic stop on Jan. 7.
Nichols died three days later.
This video contains images that may be disturbing for some viewers.
The five officers involved in his arrest -- Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith -- have been fired and charged with second-degree murder.
Lawyers for Mills and Martin said Thursday their clients plan to plead not guilty. Mills' lawyer, Blake Ballin, told ABC News Friday afternoon that his client has expressed remorse and said Mills likely did not deliver any fatal blows in the incident.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn "CJ" Davis said on ABC News' "Good Morning America" on Friday, "In my 36 years ... I would have to say I don't think I've ever been more horrified and disgusted."
Rodney Wells, Nichols' stepfather, pleaded for calm after the release of the video.
"We want peace. We do not want any type of uproar," he said Friday.
"Even though this is a very, very difficult video to watch, it was never a thought that we would not release this video," Davis added. "We wanted to make sure that it wasn't released too prematurely because we wanted to ensure that the DA's office, the TBI [Tennessee Bureau of Investigation] and also the FBI had an opportunity to cross some of the hurdles that they had to in their investigation. And we're sort of at a point now that the DA has made his statements in reference to charges of these officers, that this is a safe time for us to release the video."
Nichols' family and their attorneys, Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, saw the video before it was released to the public. The family has supported the release of the video to the public.
Crump said Friday at a press conference that the decision to charge the officers with second-degree murder just weeks after the incident set a precedent for police misconduct cases.
"We have a precedent that has been set here in Memphis," he said.
