Newly released video shows Memphis police officers battering motorist Tyre Nichols with punches and kicks and also using pepper spray and a baton, with Nichols howling in pain as he tried to shield the blows.
Yet initially, in a statement posted on social media the day after the incident, Memphis police used vague language to describe the attack and said nothing to suggest the officers had acted with the callousness and violence captured by the video clips made public late Friday.
