Biden 'outraged' after release of 'horrific' videos showing Memphis police officers beating Tyre Nichols
AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
- President Biden released a statement on the Memphis police killing of Tyre Nichols on Friday.
- The City of Memphis released four different graphic videos related to the incident.
- One video shows officers beating Nichols for minutes on end.
President Joe Biden spoke out on Friday moments after the release of several videos showing police officers brutally beating Tyre Nichols, who died from his injuries.
On Friday, The City of Memphis released four separate videos related to events surrounding the arrest and beating of Nichols, who died three days after being beaten during a traffic stop on January 7.
Biden said in a statement that he was "outraged" by what he saw.
"Like so many, I was outraged and deeply pained to see the horrific video of the beating that resulted in Tyre Nichols' death," Biden said. "It is yet another painful reminder of the profound fear and trauma, the pain, and the exhaustion that Black and Brown Americans experience every single day."
The videos show five police officers ganging up on Nichols, who initially complied with police during the traffic stop but later flees on foot. One video shows officers taking turns punching, kicking, and kneeing Nichols and kneeling on him before he becomes unresponsive and is taken away in an ambulance.
On Thursday, the five officers were indicted on second-degree murder charges.
Biden offered condolences to the Nichols family, who he spoke with on Friday, and called on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
"I spoke with RowVaughn Wells and Rodney Wells, Mr. Nichols' mother and stepfather, this afternoon. There are no words to describe the heartbreak and grief of losing a beloved child and young father," Biden added."My heart goes out to Tyre Nichols' family and to Americans in Memphis and across the country who are grieving this tremendously painful loss."