Ahead of the video release, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said Friday that there was “no proof” that Tyre was driving recklessly when officers stopped him. “I’m sure that individuals watching will feel what the family felt. And if you don’t, then you’re not a human being,” Davis said, noting that the officers’ actions “defy humanity.” “I would say it is about the same if not worse than the 1991 beating of Rodney King. A group-think mentality.”
The police chief noted that Nichols can be heard calling out for his mother in the video. “Yes, he cried out for me, because I’m his mother,” Row Vaughn Wells told CNN on Friday. “He was trying to get home to safety. He was a mamma’s boy.”
“I was feeling my son’s pain as they were beating him to death,” Wells continued, noting that Nichols was “beat like a pinata.” “They brought shame to their own families. They brought shame to the Black community.”
Nichols’ family said they support sharing the police footage that led to his death, according to Shaun King. “They want the world to see what police in America did to their son and they want police all over America to see the consequences of what they did to Tyre,” King shared on social media on behalf of the victim’s family. “Their hope is that if it even impacts a few police and prevents them from acting this way in the future, possibly saving lives, that it is worth it to them for the video to be shared.”
A GoFundMe page has been created to cover Nichols’ case and funeral expenses.
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