President Joe Biden spoke with the parents of Tyre Nichols ahead of a video release that is expected to show officers beating Nichols, who later died from his injuries.
Biden spoke with RowVaughn Wells, Nichols’s mother, and Rodney Wells, his stepfather, to “directly express his and Dr. Biden’s condolences for Tyre Nichols’s death,” according to the White House’s readout of the call.
FIVE FORMER MEMPHIS POLICE OFFICERS CHARGED IN DEATH OF TYRE NICHOLS
“During the conversation, the president commended the family’s courage and strength,” the White House said.
Nichols, 29, was hospitalized after five Memphis officers conducted a traffic stop on Jan. 7. Three days later, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced Nichols’s death.
Yesterday, the president called for peaceful protests and “meaningful reforms” ahead of the video’s release and after the five officers involved in the incident were arrested and charged.
Former officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith are charged with second-degree murder, two counts of official misconduct, one count of official oppression, aggravated assault-act in concert, and two counts of aggravated kidnapping.
Haley, Martin, and Smith are in jail on a $350,000 bond, and Bean and Mills were booked on a $250,000 bond.
Nichols’s family was shown the video on Monday. They said it showed the officers beating their son for three minutes and compared it to the 1991 video showing officers beating Rodney King in Los Angeles.
His mother, RowVaughn Wells, made it only through the first minute, family attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci said via NBC.
Biden said during his call with the Nichols family on Friday that their comments were “moving,” per a video shared by a Washington Post reporter.
“I didn’t have the courage to do what you did,” Biden told Nichols’s parents. The president has been briefed on the video but has not watched it, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Friday.
While she hasn’t seen all the footage, Wells said, “what I’ve heard is very horrific.” Officials at the federal, state, and local level have described the footage as appalling, with Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis stating it was a “failing of basic humanity.”
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She said the video is not a “calling card” for violence or destruction within the city. Several Memphis businesses and schools planned to close early Friday. Law enforcement officials are on summons to stand by ahead of potential rioting and violence, per the New York Times.
The video, which will come from bodycam footage and still cameras in the area, is expected to be released sometime after 6 p.m. CST.
