It was Jan. 7, 2023. Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old father and FedEx worker, was on his way home from a park where he went to take sunset photos. Memphis police pulled him over for alleged reckless driving. Three days later, Nichols was dead. He was Black -- so were the five fired officers now accused of second-degree murder and other crimes.
Graphic body camera footage of Nichols' beating was released to the public on Friday, nearly three weeks to the day of the incident. And despite a near-universal and days-long warning its contents were shocking, America was stunned.
His cause of death has yet to be released.
(Clips from the footage of Nichols' arrest can be seen in the video above, which has been edited for time and profanities. Click here to see the full video released by police — Warning: It shows graphic violence that could be disturbing.)
Protests erupted across the United States starting Friday night, with officials at all levels of government validating people's right to do so as they urged people to heed Nichols' mother's plea for peaceful demonstration. Hundreds marched in New York City that first night, and arrests were few. Zero were reported on the second night.
