Demonstrators in major cities protest Tyre Nichols’ death
(NewsNation) — A day after video footage of Tyre Nichols being beaten by police was released, protests continued in cities across the U.S.
The Memphis, Tennessee, Police Department released four videos of the arrest Friday, three from body-worn cameras and one from a street surveillance camera.
Footage showed five Memphis police officers beating the 29-year-old Black FedEx driver as he called out for his mother during an arrest earlier this month. The five officers have now been charged with second-degree murder, among other charges.
In Memphis, on the evening the video was released, there were protests, which remained peaceful, as Nichols’ family had requested.
Dozens of protesters chanted “Say his name! Tyre Nichols!” in honor of the man remembered by friends and family as a “joyful” father who loved skateboarding and photography.
Community activist Stevie Moore told WREG he hopes the preparations pay off as this community grieves the loss of Tyre Nichols.
“Let’s not take nobody’s life through this. We just had a tragedy, a terrible tragedy. I’m asking the public, let’s let (Memphis Police Chief) CJ Davis and (Nichols’ family’s attorney) Ben Crump and them, let them do their jobs,” Moore said.
Several dozen protesters in the city blocked a heavily traveled bridge on Interstate 55 Friday that is one of two main spans connecting Arkansas and Tennessee over the Mississippi River.
Meanwhile, in New York, there were some clashes with police. One person jumped on top of a police cruiser in Times Square and shattered the window.
Other protests cropped up in other cities as well on Friday, including Chicago and Washington, D.C.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris both condemned the beating of Nichols that eventually ended in his death.
The president said in a statement that he was “outraged and deeply pained to see the horrific video” of the beating and said people who see it will be “justifiably outraged.”
NewsNation local affiliate WREG and the Associated Press contributed to this article.