Videos reveal Tyre Nichols waited 22 minutes for ambulance

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Memphis police videos show the violent confrontation after officers stopped Tyre Nichols for an alleged traffic violation on Jan. 7. Nichols later died. (Video: The Washington Post)

By Robert Klemko

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Updated January 28, 2023 at 1:28 a.m. EST|Published January 27, 2023 at 1:34 p.m. EST

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The city of Memphis has released three body-camera videos and footage recorded from atop a street pole that altogether captured the kicks, punches and baton strikes police officers delivered against Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old fatally injured after being pulled over earlier this month.

The videos, which run about an hour in total, were released with a warning at the start for graphic content. One of the body-camera videos begins when police officers get out of their car and walk up to Nichols’s car, where another officer already on the scene is pulling him out of the driver’s seat.

The footage of the incident, which Nichols’s family has seen, showed Nichols being kicked and punched by the officers, who also used a Taser on him. The officers, who were fired last week, are facing second-degree murder and other charges. The videos also show it took 22 minutes for an ambulance and a stretcher to arrive for Nichols after officers announced he was in custody.

Officers say Nichols drove the wrong way, a claim unproven

Timeline: Minutes of beating and a long wait for an ambulance

Video: Demonstrations in Memphis are calm and peaceful

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Memphis police delivered at least two kicks, two baton strikes and five punches to Tyre Nichols’s face, the videos show.

One element not included in the released footage: Video of the initial police stop. According to Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis, the officer who initially stopped Nichols was driving a new unmarked car without a dashboard camera.

President Biden responded to the videos by saying that, “like so many,” he is “outraged and deeply pained to see the horrific video of the beating that resulted in Tyre Nichols’s death.”

In addition to a probe by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the FBI and the Justice Department are also launching a civil rights investigation. The White House has urged a swift investigation.

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