Police haven’t said much about what led to Nichols’ arrest or what happened after he was apprehended. Nichols is a father of two who is 29 years old and works for FedEx. His family says he loves skateboarding.
His family’s lawyers say that on the night of January 7 he was going home from a suburban park where he had taken pictures of the sunset. He was stopped on his way home for careless driving, according to a statement from the Memphis Police Department.
When officers came to Nichols to arrest him, police said there was a “showdown” and Nichols ran. Police say that before Nichols was finally arrested, there was also a second “showdown”.
If you’re interested, you can go back and read our coverage of the Tire Nichols incident in detail:
In an interview on CNN on Jan. 27, Memphis Police Director Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said investigators were “unable to back up” the first report of reckless driving.
Police said that after the arrest, Nichols “complained of shortness of breath, whereupon an ambulance was called.” Police said Nichols was taken to a hospital in very bad condition.
In a statement released January 10, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation indicated that Nichols “succumbed to his injuries,” but did not specify what those injuries were. However, the official cause of death has not been disclosed.
Rodney Wells, Nichols’ stepfather, told CBS affiliate WREG-TV that the cops’ beating caused his stepson to have a heart attack and lose his kidneys.
Different people on Twitter had different views on what happened with Tire Nichols:
So I just checked the police CCTV footage of Tire Nichols. I will say this first, I will always support the blue.
Second Tire is not innocent in this, he ran away from the police and he continued to resist them as he was told to put his hands behind his back.
— Joshua Flippo (@JFlippo1327) January 28, 2023
Unlike in the case of George Floyd…
Tire Nichols was killed.
And each of these agents must be held accountable.
— Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) January 28, 2023
Watching black US police officers, with bodycams, do this to another black American gives you an idea of what the US military has done in #Iraq, #Afghanistan and other countries around the world.#TyreNichols #TyreNicholsVideo #Memphispolice pic.twitter.com/OVjE1V1Eb4
— أحمد حسيني (@A_Hossainy) January 28, 2023
Tire Nichols should still be alive. Yes, the police officers who brutally murdered him must be held accountable. But not even their conviction on the most serious charges possible can bring Tire back. We must do everything we can to end police brutality against people of color.
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 28, 2023
The family’s lawyers said an independent autopsy they paid for showed Nichols had “extensive bleeding” from being hit hard. The report’s full findings were not made public. On Friday, four films surfaced online, featuring footage from police body cameras and other street surveillance systems.
They show officers pulling Nichols out of his car after restraining him, a fight when Nichols breaks free and runs, and then disturbing footage of five officers holding Nichols and beating him at an intersection. In the videos, Nichols is kicked and punched in the head, pepper sprayed, and beaten with a baton more than once.
Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.