Videos released on Friday night (27) show five police officers taking turns brutally kicking and punching Tire Nichols, 29, who died on January 10 in the United States.
Meanwhile, the young man appears crying and calling repeatedly for his mother during an arrest in the city of Memphis, on January 7. He was hospitalized and died three days later.
The images also show police officers shouting profanities and beating the FedEx employee for about three minutes. In all, the four videos released by the Memphis Police Department exceed an hour of footage.
Protests in Memphis and other US cities are already taking place this Friday.
Nichols was black, as were all five police officers accused of his murder.
Nichols’s mother, RowVaughn Wells, said her son was just 70 yards from their home when Memphis police officers shot him. Lawyers for the family are comparing the case to that of Rodney King, who was beaten by police after he was stopped in traffic in Los Angeles in 1991. King survived and is now a writer.
Police initially said Nichols had been pulled over on suspicion of reckless driving, which has not been substantiated.
The five officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr, Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith — were fired last week.
They were taken into custody on Thursday (26). Four of the five posted bail and were released on Friday morning. Each faces charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, official misconduct and official oppression.
Lawyers for Martin and Mills have said their clients will plead not guilty.
Memphis Police Director Cerelyn Davis described the officers’ actions as “heinous, reckless and inhumane”.
US President Joe Biden said in a statement: “Like many, I was outraged and deeply saddened to see the horrific video of the beating that resulted in the death of Tire Nichols.”
Description of videos
BBC reporters watched the videos released by the police.
The first video shows the officers pulling Nichols out of the car and yelling at him to get down on the ground.
“I did nothing!” he says. The officers demand that he lie down.
“Go to the [palavrão] ground,” one officer yells, while another is heard saying, “Do taser [arma de eletrochoque] in him!”
An officer yells, “Put your hands behind your back before I break your [palavrão].”
“You guys are really overreacting right now,” Nichols tells the officers. “I’m just trying to get home.”
Within seconds, one of the police officers triggers the taserand Nichols manages to escape.
A second video, apparently from a camera across the street, shows two officers holding Nichols while others take turns kicking, punching and swinging him with what appears to be a nightstick.
They drag him across the floor and sit him against a squad car.
The third and fourth videos show body camera footage of the officers during the beating. Spray of pepper is thrown at Nichols, who repeatedly yells, “Mom!”
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