(Updated with more details) CNN went first, but other cable news channels today were wary of showing the police’s gruesome body camera footage of the fatal Jan. 7 arrest of Tire Nichols. “I’m just trying to get home,” a horrified Nichols is heard yelling at the cops, who push and beat him in the street.
All of the gruesome footage released by the city of Memphis on Friday can be viewed here. Warning, it is very graphic and disturbing.
Just before the video was released today at 7 p.m., Erin Burnett told viewers that “CNN will broadcast it in its entirety” and that the footage was “graphic and excruciating.”
CNN began airing the police footage for MSNBC and Fox News. Memphis Police Department released four videos of the attack on Friday, some with sound and some without. In the slightly edited footage, the five now-dismissed officers can be seen repeatedly beating an unresponsive Nichols with batons. A stun gun was also used at one stage, as were some members of the group, who repeatedly beat Nichols while others held him down. At one point, eight officers stand around the injured Nichols.
“We have now received the video and will change it as soon as we can,” FNC’s Jesse Watters told viewers just after 7 p.m. ET. After a warning of what viewers would see, MSNBC’s Joy Reid began playing the body camera and surveillance video around 7:05 PM ET. Citing the “patchy” nature of the video release, Watters and FNC began showing some of the sometimes blurry footage around 7:11 PM ET before returning to a split-screen interview.
Unlike CNN and MSNBC, Fox commented on the footage. (8:05 p.m. ET/5:05 p.m. PT: Around 7:55 p.m. ET, Fox’s Watters told viewers of Rupert Murdoch’s channel that FNC will show all four Memphis police videos “in full. Tucker Carlson tonightFox began airing large chunks of what Carlson called “brutal” footage from multiple angles, with Nichols screaming for his mother as police brutally assaulted him.)
Of the broadcast networks, NBC was originally the only one nightly news on the East Coast while ABC and CBS stuck to regular programming. On the West Coast, the Big 3 broadcasters have seen ABC and NBC stick to local news. Although CBS occasionally showed a search featuring the video, it stuck to its PGA Tour programming for West Coast viewers.
Disney-owned ABC chimed in nationally with a special report hosted by David Muir around 7:30 PM ET / 4:30 PM. PT. The special report lasted about five minutes and included updates from Memphis and Justice Department correspondent Pierre Thomas, but the network did not show any police footage. ABC showed split screen footage of protesters in Memphis. A short while later, NBC News broke in with a special report, hosted by Lester Holt, that included some excerpts from the footage, plus a report from Memphis and legal commentary.
CNN decided to treat the video’s release as an “ongoing live coverage event,” with presenters and experts adding context and explanations “to explain to our audience why we’re showing the whole thing and digesting it with them in real time.” according to a network source explaining the decision.
“Local authorities have made the video transparent so the community can understand what led to the death of Tire Nichols, an event so brutal that five former officers are facing charges,” the source said. “Because so little information has come out about what happened, this video is essential to understanding what happened.” The network has also stopped endorsing CNN.com so it can be viewed live on digital platforms.
CNN and other broadcasters placed warning labels on the footage, while other outlets such as the New York Times did not.
PBS’ Review of Washington Week reported the publication, with CBS News guest Ed O’Keefe saying, “He’s been treated no better than an animal and it’s just horrible to watch. We get paid to watch it and we have to process it . Americans and viewers don’t have to watch if they don’t want to. But you have to know. It’s terrible.”
He added: “The contrast between this and what happened to Rodney King all those years ago – there’s almost no difference. And it’s so worrying for policemen who saw it earlier this week and started warning everyone to beware prepare for the response.
An injured and bloodied Nichols died at the hospital on Jan. 10, three days after five Memphis police officers arrested the 29-year-old African-American man for a traffic violation and a violent confrontation ensued.
A few blocks from the home of the victim’s parents, officers first tried to pull FedEx employee Nichols from his car with pepper spray. Nichols then ran away but was arrested by police and “there was another altercation at a nearby location where Mr. Nichols sustained the serious injuries,” Shelby County Attorney Steve Mulroy said at a March 26 news conference. January said. After beating Nichols, officers stood by and did not provide medical attention to the obviously battered man. It took more than half an hour before help arrived.
Earlier Friday, the Nichols family held a private press conference with noted civil rights attorney Ben Crump in metropolitan Tennessee. “We wanted to protest peacefully, that’s what the family wants, that’s what the community wants,” Nichols’ grieving stepfather, Rodney Wells, told cameras amid unrest concerns after the police footage was released.
Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, attended a candlelight vigil for her son Thursday night. “If you are here for me and Tirus, you will protest peacefully,” she told those present. “You can get your point across, but we don’t need to tear our cities to pieces, folks, because we have to live in them.”
The Nichols family, along with several members of the Memphis Police Department, watched the video hours before it was released to the public this afternoon.
“I saw the video myself and I can tell you I was shocked,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said this morning during a press briefing in DC with Attorney General Merrick Garland. “I have not seen the video, but I have been informed about this video. It’s very disturbing, let me say horrifying, based on the descriptions I’ve been given,” the attorney general said.
President Joe Biden issued a statement Friday expressing condolences to the Nichols family and calling for police reform. “As Americans mourn, the Department of Justice conducts its investigation and government agencies continue their work, I join Tire’s family in their call for peaceful protest,” the president added. “Outrage is understandable, but violence is never acceptable. Violence is destructive and against the law. It has no place in peaceful protests seeking justice.”
In that regard, the Memphis police chief hoped to prepare citizens for how explicit and brutal the now-ex-cop who hit Nichols was. “You will see acts that defy humanity,” Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis told CNN’s Don Lemon this morning. “You will see the contempt of life.”
Hours before the expected release of the video, some, like The Roots leader and Oscar winner Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, took to social media to urge people not to watch the “torture pornographic” video of Nichols’ attack:
DA Mulroy’s office charged each of the now-fired officers, all black, with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. Under Tennessee law, a second-degree charge carries a sentence of 15 to 60 years in prison.
Additional charges may follow against Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith, prosecutors indicated.
There is a funeral for Tire Nichols next week.
Author: Dominic Patten, TedJohnson
Source: Deadline
Joseph Fearn is an entertainment and television aficionado who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for what’s hot in the world of TV, Joseph keeps his readers informed about the latest trends and must-see shows.
