Tyre Nichols death: SCORPION Unit 'permanently deactivated'
The five former officers charged in the incident were in the unit.
Officials in Memphis, Tennessee, released dramatic body camera footage Friday of the fatal confrontation between Tyre Nichols and five police officers.
Nichols can be heard screaming "mom" several times during the gut-wrenching clips, which appear to show officers beating and pepper-spraying him after he ran from a traffic stop arrest.
Nichols died at the age of 29 on Jan. 10, three days after the violent confrontation.
The five Memphis Police Department officers involved in his arrest -- Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith -- were fired and then charged with second-degree murder in connection with Nichols' death.
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Family attorney: 'This kidnapping charge -- it is terrorism'
Tyre Nichols family attorney Antonio Romanucci stressed the fact that the charges against the Memphis police officers include kidnapping.
By Tennessee law, he said, “the definition that we are dealing with here on this kidnapping charge -- it is terrorism."
"When you think of 9/11, what's the word that comes to mind? Terrorism. When you think of other heinous acts that have happened in churches across this country, any act of terrorism, what does that instill in you? That, ladies and gentlemen, is the definition that we are dealing with here on this kidnapping charge," he said at Friday's press conference. "It is terrorism. It was designed to terrorize the victim."
Family attorney Ben Crump added, “One of the things that must be stated about the kidnapping charge … when you all see this video, you're going to see Tyre Nichols is calling out for his mom.”
“He calls out three times for his mother. His last words on this Earth is, ‘mom,’” Crump said. “When you think about that kidnapping charge, [Nichols] said, 'I just want to go home.' I mean, it's a traffic stop, for God's sake.”
Ben Crump: ‘This is the blueprint going forward’
Ben Crump, an attorney for Tyre Nichols’ family, is applauding the charges, including second-degree murder, that were “swiftly” brought against the five Memphis police officers involved in Nichols’ traffic stop.
“When we look at how these five Black officers, who were caught on camera committing a crime, and when we look at how fast the police chief and the police department terminated them," Crump said at a news conference Friday. "And we look at how swiftly the district attorney brought charges against them in less than 20 days, then we want to proclaim that this is the blueprint going forward for any time any officers, whether they be Black or white, will be held accountable.”
"We won't accept less going forward," Crump said.
"We have a precedent that has been set here in Memphis," he said.
Crump said he intends to file a civil suit against the SCORPION organized crime unit to which the involved officers belonged based on other excessive force allegations made against the unit. His co-counsel, Antonio Romanucci, called for Memphis police to disband the unit immediately.
Crump said the family wants to create a law in Tennessee named after Nichols that will emphasize the importance of officers having a duty to intervene when they see crimes being committed, even if the crimes are being committed by fellow officers.
-ABC News' Whitney Lloyd
FBI director watched video, says he was ‘appalled’
FBI Director Christopher Wray said Friday that he’s watched the video and "was appalled."
"I’m struggling to find a stronger word, but I can tell you I was appalled," Wray said.
He said alerts have been sent to FBI field offices across the U.S. instructing them to work closely with state and local partners "in the event of something getting out of hand" after the video is released to the public Friday evening.
Wray added, “There is a right way and a wrong way in this country to express being upset or angry about something, and we need to make sure that if there is that sentiment expressed here, it is done in the right way.”
-ABC News’ Alex Mallin
Memphis police chief says video left her 'horrified,' 'disgusted'
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn "CJ" Davis said video of the traffic stop that allegedly led to Tyre Nichols' death left her "horrified," "disgusted," "sad" and "confused."
"In my 36 years ... I would have to say I don't think I've ever been more horrified and disgusted, sad ... and, to some degree, confused," Davis told ABC News' "Good Morning America” on Friday.
When pressed on why the video left her "confused," she replied that it was "just in the level of aggression and response to what had occurred in this traffic stop and is still very unclear, you know, as to the real reason for the stop in the first place."
Davis said "there was much discussion about when an appropriate time for the video to be released,” and “we felt that Friday would be better.”
“We're taking under consideration the reaction of the community that could potentially take place and ensuring that our schools, you know, are out, most business folks would be on the way home,” the chief explained.
"Even though this is a very, very difficult video to watch, it was never a thought that we would not release this video," Davis added. "We wanted to make sure that it wasn't released too prematurely because we wanted to ensure that the DA's office, the TBI [Tennessee Bureau of Investigation] and also the FBI had an opportunity to cross some of the hurdles that they had to in their investigation. And we're sort of at a point now that the DA has made his statements in reference to charges of these officers, that this is a safe time for us to release the video."
Body camera footage released
Memphis officials have now released the footage of Nichols' confrontation with police.
Four videos were shared to Vimeo by the city of Memphis.
The videos included the warning: "Footage contains graphic content and language. Some may find offense. Viewer discretion is advised."
The city shared footage from three bodyworn cameras, as well as a pole camera, amounting to about 67 minutes total.
The first clip is a body camera video that shows the initial traffic stop where Nichols is pulled out of his car. Nichols can be heard at one point saying calmly, "You guys are really doing a lot right now -- stop, I’m just trying to go home," as he's laying on the ground, before he manages to break free and runs away.
The second clip is city surveillance video taken from the second location, which shows Nichols being hit, kicked and punched by several of the officers, including the use of a baton.
The third clip is body camera video which shows the officers beating Nichols, taken from the vantage point of the officer who can be seen hitting Nichols with a baton in the second clip.
The fourth clip is also body camera video, though less than two minutes in nothing is visible. Audio can be heard, including Nichols yelling out "mom" at least three times. The video becomes visible once again several minutes later, showing Nichols slumped on the ground next to a vehicle.
Nichols' family, who saw the footage earlier this week with their attorneys, supported its public release.