(updated with more details) CNN He went first, but today other cable news outlets were wary of showing the shocking police body cam video footage of the fatal arrest on January 7. Nichols Photos. “I’m just trying to get home,” a frightened Nichols can be heard telling the police as they scream as they push him onto the road and beat him.
The shocking footage was all posted on Friday by Medina Memphis It can be seen here. Warning that this is extremely dangerous and annoying.
Before the video became publicly available today at 7 p.m. ET, Erin Burnett told viewers that “CNN will air it in its entirety” and that the footage is “graphic and heartbreaking.”
CNN has started airing police footage before MSNBC And Fox News. Memphis police released four videos of the assault on Friday, some with audio and some without. In the somewhat redacted footage, the five now-dismissed officers can be seen hitting the unresisting Nichols repeatedly with clubs. A stun gun was also used at one point, as well as some members of the group repeatedly punching Nichols while others beat him. At one point, up to eight policemen were seen standing around the injured Nichols.
“Now we’ve got the video and we’re going to change that as soon as we can,” FNC’s Jesse Waters told viewers after 7pm ET. After a warning of what viewers were about to see, MSNBC’s Joy Reid started rolling out the body camera and surveillance video around 7:05 p.m. ET. Citing the “partial” nature of the video release, Watters and FNC began showing a portion of the blurry footage at times around 7:11 PM ET, before returning to the split screen interview.
Unlike CNN and MSNBC, Fox provided commentary for the footage. (8:05 p.m. ET / 5:05 p.m. PT: At around 7:55 p.m. ET, Fox’s Watters told viewers of the Rupert Murdoch-owned channel that FNC will be showing all four of the Memphis Police videos “in full.” Tucker Carlson tonightFox began broadcasting large clips of “brutal” footage, as Carlson called it, from various angles with Nichols screaming at his mother as the police relentlessly attack him).
Of the broadcast networks, NBC originally stayed on Nightly news on the East Coast, while ABC and CBS remained with regular programming. On the West Coast, the Big Three broadcast networks saw ABC and NBC stick to local news. While occasionally crawling with video details, CBS stayed with PGA Tour programming for West Coast viewers.
Disney-owned ABC cut nationally with a special report hosted by David Muir at approximately 7:30 PM ET / 4:30 PM PT. The special lasted about five minutes, and had updates from Memphis and Justice Department reporter Pierre Thomas, but the network did not show the police footage. ABC showed screenshots of protesters in Memphis. A short time later, NBC News broke with a special report by Lester Holt that included some clips from the footage, as well as a report from Memphis and legal commentary.
CNN decided to treat the video release as a “live rolling coverage event,” with anchors and experts adding context and explanation and “explaining to our audience why we’re showing the whole thing and addressing it with them in real time,” according to a network source explaining the decision.
“Local authorities have transparently released the video so the community can understand why Nichols’ photos were murdered, an event so brutal that five former officers are facing charges,” the source said. “With so little information obtained about what happened, this video is vital to understanding what happened.” The network also dropped the endorsement of CNN.com so that it could be shown directly on digital platforms.
CNN and other networks included warning labels on the footage, while other outlets, such as the New York Times, did not.
TV program Washington Week in Review He covered the release, with CBS News guest Ed O’Keefe saying, “He’s been treated no better than an animal, and it’s horrible to watch. We’re paid to watch and we have to treat him. Americans and viewers don’t have to watch if you don’t want to. But you have to know. It is.” awesome.”
He added: “The contrast between that and what happened to Rodney King all those years ago – there’s almost no difference. And that’s what really upsets the police officers who saw this earlier this week and are starting to warn everyone to prepare for a reaction.”
Bruised and bloodied, Nichols died in hospital Jan. 10, three days after five Memphis cops pulled the 29-year-old African-American man over for a traffic violation and a violent confrontation ensued.
Blocks from the home of the victim’s father, officers first tried to remove FedEx employee Nichols from his car using pepper spray. Nichols then fled, only to be caught by police and “there was another altercation nearby in which Mr. Nichols sustained serious injuries,” Shelby County D.A. Steve Mulroy said at a January 26 news conference. After Nichols was beaten, the cops stood around and did not provide any medical assistance to the clearly brutalized man. In fact, it took over half an hour for any help to appear.
Earlier Friday, the Nichols family held their own press conference with the famous civil rights attorney Ben Crump in Tennessee City. “We went to peaceful protests, that’s what the family wants, that’s what the community wants,” Nichols’ grieving father Rodney Wells told cameras as fears of unrest grew after the police footage was released.
Thursday night, Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, visited a candlelight vigil for her son. “If you are here for me and Tyre, you will demonstrate peacefully,” she told the gathering. “You can get your point across but we don’t need to tear apart our cities, people, because we have to live in them.”
Nichols’ family, along with several members of Memphis law enforcement, watched the video hours before it was released to the public this afternoon.
“I watched the video myself and I’ll tell you I was horrified,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said at a news conference in D.C. this morning with Attorney General Merrick Garland. I haven’t seen the video but I was shown this video. “It is very disturbing, let me say appalling, from the descriptions I have been given,” said the Attorney General.
President Joe Biden He issued a statement Friday expressing his condolences to Nichols’ family and seeking police reform. The president added, “While Americans grieve, the Department of Justice conducts its investigation, and state authorities continue their work, I join the Tire family in calling for peaceful protest.” “Anger is understandable, but violence is never acceptable. Violence is destructive and against the law. It has no place in peaceful protests demanding justice.”
In context, the Memphis police chief hoped to prepare the public for how cruel and battering the former officers were to Nichols. “You’re going to see acts that defy humanity,” Memphis Chief of Police Cerelyn Davis told a CNN reporter this morning. “You will see a disregard for life.”
Hours before the video’s expected release, some like radicals leader and Academy Award winner Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson took to social media to urge people not to watch the “torture porn” video of Nichols’ assault:
DA Mulroy’s office has charged each of the now-dismissed officers, all black, with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. Under Tennessee laws, a charge of second-degree murder carries a penalty of 15 to 60 years in a state prison.
The district attorney’s office has hinted that more charges could be brought against Tadarius Beane, Demetrius Haley, Emmett Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith.
Photo Nichols’ funeral has been scheduled for next week.