Police training experts who examined videos released Friday of the fatal beating of Tyra Nichols in Memphis, Tenn., said they believe there is no justification for the actions of the officers involved, who have been charged with crimes including second-degree murder. death.
Footage spanning nearly an hour from police body cameras and street cameras shows officers punching, kicking and using batons against Nichols after he fled the traffic stop.
“In my career, I’ve never seen — I mean, you see it in the movies — but I’ve never seen somebody intentionally lean in to be hit,” said Ed Obayashi, a police training expert and attorney leading the use-of-force investigation. for state law enforcement across the country.
“To me, it’s worse than Rodney King,” added Obayashi, who is also a sheriff’s deputy and policy adviser for the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office in California.
In police training, officers are repeatedly stressed to be aware of their physical surroundings, Obajashi said, but the same emphasis should be placed on being aware of one’s emotions. If officers are in high spirits, he said, they are bound to make mistakes.
In the confrontation with Nichols, it’s possible the officers felt disrespected when they didn’t follow their instructions, he said.
“This appears to be a classic case of contempt for a police officer,” he said, “only for them to catch up with him later and then exact their revenge on the poor individual.”
Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, an organization of current and former law enforcement officials that studies how to improve policing, said police behavior is lagging in other ways as well.
In modern policing, officers are typically trained to communicate clearly with an individual and respond proportionately to their actions, he said. Those officers did neither, he said.
Battering is “the definition of excessive force,” Wexler said. In his opinion, Nichols did not pose a danger commensurate with the force the officers used, except that he did not appear to want to be arrested.
Even though Nichols was on the ground, none of the officers attempted to help him, which Wexler said was a breach of their duty to render aid.
At one point, Tire Nichols cries, “Mommy! Mom!” After the beating, several officers stood around talking while he lay motionless on the ground.
US police in Memphis on Friday released disturbing video footage of the fatal police beating of Tire Nichols, a 29-year-old black man. Nichols died in hospital on January 10, three days after he was pulled over on suspicion of reckless driving.
Five Memphis officers, also all black, were charged with second-degree murder in the beating of Nichols.
What do the Tire Nichols tire kicking videos show?
Warning: The following video contains scenes that may disturb some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.
‘Nichols video outraged me’: Joe Biden
President Joe Biden said he was “outraged and deeply saddened” after watching the released video of the fatal beating of Nichols.
“It’s another painful reminder of the deep fear and trauma, pain and exhaustion that black and brown Americans experience every day,” Biden said in a statement.
“I spoke to Tyre’s mother and expressed my condolences,” the president said, adding that her lawmakers should pass the George Floyd Act, a package of police reform measures that stalled in the last Congress.
“I can only do so much by executive order at the federal level,” Biden added.
(With inputs from Reuters, AFP and Bloomberg)
