Five police officers were jailed in the United States for causing the death of an Afro-descendant arrested for a traffic violation

A new case of police violence reignites racial tensions in the United States, after the arrest of five police officers accused of causing the death of Tire Nichols, a 29-year-old black man.

These Memphis, Tennessee, police officers, all of whom are African-American, were charged with murder, battery and battery, as well as kidnapping, prosecutor Steve Mulroy said at a news conference.

Nichols was arrested on January 7 in Memphis for an alleged traffic violation. According to police, as officers approached, “a standoff ensued” and “the suspect fled.”

The officers pursued Nichols until they caught up with him and arrested him, at which point he complained of not being able to breathe and had to be hospitalized. He died three days after he was admitted to the medical center.

The prosecutor mentioned that “it took a period of time” to get medical help for Nichols

Details of when Nichols was arrested are unclear, as video of the incident has so far only been shown to the victim’s relatives and lawyers, who say “the police officers beat him beyond recognition.”

“It is a beating, pure and simple, without interruption, of this young man for three minutes,” said lawyer Antonio Romanucci.

“We can state that preliminary findings indicate that Tire suffered extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating, and that his observed injuries are consistent with what the family and attorneys witnessed on video of his fatal encounter with police on January 7. 2023,” attorney Benjamin Crump said in a statement.

What happened was “inadmissible” and “criminal” and “shouldn’t have happened,” said David Rausch, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, who was “shocked” and “disgusted” by what he saw. “In a word, he is absolutely hideous,” he said.

Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr. and Justin Smith were fired last week after an internal investigation found excessive use of force.

The director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation assured that the officers are “directly responsible for physical violence committed on Mr. Nichols” and that it was not “only a professional error, but a lack of humanity.”

Lawyers for the family said the arrest of the officers “gives us hope as we continue to demand justice for Tyre.”

The case of Tire Nichols deepens racial tensions in a country still scarred by the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in May 2020 and the Black Lives Matter demonstrations, against racism and police violence, that followed.

Joe Biden, the president of the United States, said in a statement that a “prompt, complete and transparent investigation” into the case is necessary.

“We cannot ignore the fact that deadly police interventions hit black people the hardest,” Biden said.

(YO)