Three police officers who are being prosecuted for the beating that led to the death of an African-American youth, Tyr Nichols, in January 2023 in Memphis, in the southern United States, were brought to court yesterday Monday for the first day of the proceedings against them initiated by the justice in federal level.

The case sparked an emotional response, forcing the White House to react as there were fears that new episodes would break out after videos were released showing the 29-year-old’s brutal beating by the five officers — all of whom are African-American.

Tyree Nichols died three days later in a hospital.

The trial, expected to last several weeks, began yesterday with jury selection, a process delayed by various preliminary motions, according to media reports.

The five police officers — who were fired and charged with criminal charges by the authorities of the state of Tennessee — were targeted by the federal judiciary, which charged them with four charges. The two agreed to plead guilty in November and August.

After the federal trial is over, they will then be arraigned in state court.

More than four years after the death of George Floyd, the African-American who died in police intervention, an incident that shocked the country and the whole world and triggered a series of mass mobilizations and incidents, many cases of excessive police violence continue to be recorded in the United States.