NC leaders, activists offer their perspectives on video showing Memphis police officers beat Tyre Nichols

Leaders, law experts and local activists offered their perspective Friday after Memphis police released video footage of officers beating Tyre Nichols.

People WRAL News spoke with on Friday said it was difficult to watch the footage, which shows officers hitting Nichols with their fists, boots and batons.

"[They] treated him like a punching bag," Pittman said of how officers treated Nichols.

It shows the brutal police beating that led to Nichols' death.

"Law enforcement officers [are] sworn to protect and serve," Pittman said. "It was no protecting this guy at all."

Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn "CJ" Davis decided to make the video public after the termination of the five officers, who now face second-degree murder charges in connection to Nichols’ death.

Durham Mayor-Pro Tem Mark-Anthony Middleton worked closely with Davis when she served as as the Bull City's police chief from June 2016 - June 2021.

"She wasn’t afraid to snatch badges when officers came up short in Durham," Middleton said of Davis.

With the video now public, North Carolina Central University law professor Irving Joyner explained how it could play out in court.

"That is going to make it more difficult for the prosecution because initially, I would think, the defense attorney will want to change venue from that area because so many people have already been exposed to what occurred and have undoubtedly reached opinions about what has happened," Joyner said.

Joyner also said while the footage may be hard for some people to process, knowing the officers are being held accountable will likely help soften the blow.

"I think the anger will not be at the same level as it has been in the past where there’s been suspicion of police cover-ups that was going on and here that has been taken away," Joyner said.

Activists say accountability about what played out in the videos released is a step in the right direction from Davis, but they are also calling for police reform.

"Her taking that step in direction of accountability first will definitely will calm people down, but it does not solve the problem," Pittman said.

The ACLU of North Carolina also issued a statement Friday from executive director Chantal Stevens in response to the release of the video showing the deadly beating of Nichols:

Apex Police Chief Jason Armstrong issued a statement of his own on Friday evening.

"I am heartbroken for the suffering Mr. Nichols endured and the trauma his family will experience having to live out this nightmare publicly," Armstrong wrote in part. "Some of the actions the officers perpetrated were the very actions they took an oath to protect the public from and that cannot be excused."

Roxboro Police Chief David Hess also issued a statement.

"Justice for Tyre Nichols would be if he were still alive," Hess wrote. "What I saw on the Memphis police video caused me to be physically ill."

U.S. Rep. Alma Adams, D-North Carolina, also shared her reaction on Twitter.

"The beating and murder of Tyre Nichols is unconscionable, and justice should be served swiftly," Adams wrote. "I am praying for his family and community tonight.

"Most of all, I am praying for people across the country to join us in ending extrajudicial police violence."

Concord Police Chief Gary Gacek also reacted to the video.

"The death of Tyre Nichols is deeply upsetting," Gacek wrote in part. "The actions of the now criminally charged and former Memphis police officers are inconsistent with the training, practices, professional standards and core values of the law enforcement profession."

Protestors marched in downtown Raleigh Saturday around 1 p.m. in response to the release of the body cam footage. Nearly 100 people gathered for the march, which started in front of the Wake County courthouse.