Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Almost simultaneously as the horrific Memphis Police beating video of Tyre Nichols was bring released Friday evening, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown was presiding over a faith-based vigil on the steps of city hall.
The vigil brought together religious, political, law enforcement leaders and the community as the anticipated video was streaming online and being played on news broadcasts across the nation.
"It's overwhelming," said Brown as he opened the mournful gathering. "There really are no words," the mayor said in trying to come to grips with the deadly beating of the 29-yea-old Nichols. "It was an outright disregard for human life."
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The only solace Mayor Brown finds in the situation following the beating is that the Memphis Police Department took swift action in charging five officers for the killing.
Buffalo Common Council President Rev. Darius Pridgen also spoke at the vigil, merging his role as a government leader and pastor at True Bethel Baptist Church.
"The family has asked us all as a nation to be peaceful," Pridgen said. "They're not asking us to not feel anything," he said, but they're asking us not to tear up our own communities, Pridgen added.
In Buffalo and beyond Friday there was deep concern of the potential for violent protests following the video release.
During a briefing in Buffalo City Hall Friday, Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said his department would stand with the community, but would also not allow any violence or property damage to result during any gatherings of protest.
Protesters gathered for mostly peaceful demonstrations in multiple cities, including Memphis, where several dozen demonstrators blocked the Interstate 55 bridge that carries traffic over the Mississippi River toward Arkansas. Semitrucks were backed up for a distance. In Washington, dozens of protestors gathered in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House and near Black Lives Matter Plaza.