Washington (AFP) - US authorities on Thursday charged five officers with second-degree murder over the fatal beating of a Black man in the eastern state of Tennessee following a traffic stop.
Tyre Nichols, 29, was stopped on January 7 for what the Memphis Police Department said was reckless driving.
After a chase ensued, "police brutalized him to the point of being unrecognizable," family attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci said in a statement.
The five officers, who are also Black, were fired after an internal police investigation found them to have "violated multiple department policies, including excessive use of force, duty to intervene and duty to render aid," the MPD said last Friday.
Nichols was transported to the hospital in critical condition, according to police, where he died on January 10.
"These officers were found to be directly responsible for the physical abuse of Mr Nichols," Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said late Wednesday.
"This is not just a professional failing, this is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual.This incident was heinous, reckless and inhumane."
The five officers -- Justin Smith, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr -- were additionally charged with aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping.All are now in police custody.
"The news today from Memphis officials that these five officers are being held criminally accountable for their deadly and brutal actions gives us hope as we continue to push for justice for Tyre," the family's lawyers said.
Officials have said a video of the episode exists and will be released sometime after 6 pm Central time Friday (0000 GMT Saturday).
"After everyone sees the video, I don't think they'll have any questions about those charges," District Attorney for Memphis Steve Mulroy told CNN.
Added Police Chief Davis: "I expect you to feel outrage in the disregard of basic human rights."
Family lawyers who watched the clip said they had seen "with our own eyes the disgusting way in which he lost his life at the hands of Memphis police."
The lawyers added that the beating of Nichols "points to the desperate need for change and reform to ensure this violence stops occurring during low-threat procedures, like in this case, a traffic stop."
David Rausch, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation called the fatal beating "absolutely appalling" and said it "was wrong, this was criminal."
Mulroy said the victim's family was at a loss: "They described an almost perfect son, a cheerful and happy person who enjoyed skateboarding and sunsets over Shelby Farms Park."
Racial injustice and police brutality came more strongly into the spotlight with the 2020 death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis.
"We can name all the victims of police violence," said Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, a civil rights group, "but we can't name a single law you have passed to address it."
