As brutal details continued to filter out about the death of Tyre Nichols following his arrest by Memphis police after a traffic stop, representatives from the Department of Justice held a briefing on Wednesday morning to reassure the public and ask for calm.
“I want this city to be a place where justice is done,” said United States Attorney Kevin Ritz. “The United States is committed to following the facts and the law, guided by principles of justice every step of the way.”
Ritz called for peace and patience as an edgy public anticipates the looming release of a video of the 29-year-old Black man’s encounter with police, which the Nichols family compared to the beating of Rodney King,
Hours before the briefing, lawyers for Nichols’ family announced that preliminary autopsy results suggested Nichols “suffered extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating.”
“His observed injuries are consistent with what the family and attorneys witnessed on the video of his fatal encounter with police on January 7, 2023,” read a statement released by family lawyers.
Details of the arrest continue to be few and far between. But recollections by family who have seen the video have begun painting a picture of a man pulled over and then beaten senseless by police only yards from his mother’s house.
Family has said they believe his death was due to MPD’s use of force.
The incident has already resulted in the swift firing of 5 Black MPD officers. Last week, two staff members of the Fire Department were also relieved of duty pending investigation into Nichols’ death. One of the cops involved in the case, Demetrius Haley, was previously accused of taking part in a beating that left a jail inmate unconscious, as the Daily Memphian reported. Haley denied doing so, and the suit was later dismissed for procedural reasons.
“We’re going to get justice for my son Tyre if that’s the last breath I take,” Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, said at a press conference on Monday.
