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Memphis police pepper-sprayed THEMSELVES while attempting to subdue Tyre Nichols during traffic stop

Following Tyre Nichols' arrest, one officer informs several others that 'we're all sprayed'

MEMPHIS, TENNESSE: Unsettling video of the incident indicates that while Tyre Nichols was being arrested, two Memphis police officers who are accused of viciously beating him to death during conducting a traffic check pepper sprayed one other.

Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr, and Justin Smith, five black cops, were charged with Nichols' murder and turned themselves in to authorities on Thursday, January 26. In addition to second-degree murder, they are accused of aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct, and official oppression, as reported by The New York Post.

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‘It was TORTURE then murder’: Outrage as bodycam video shows cops mercilessly beating Tyre Nichols

‘It was TORTURE then murder’: Outrage as bodycam video shows cops mercilessly beating Tyre Nichols

On January 7, police pulled Nichols over for allegedly careless driving at an intersection, drew their firearms, and demanded that he exit the vehicle, according to body cam footage of the event. The confused driver was ordered with a barrage of expletives, and after being knocked to the ground, they attempted to arrest him. The videos are audio-only in some places and last for about an hour showing Nichols wailing for his mother and whining as police continuously strike and kick him.

In the first of two altercations, Nichols manages to free himself as police use tasers and pepper spray, but he then flees down the street, where police would later find him and beat him again. In the video from his body camera, an officer can be heard saying, "I can't see jack sh-t," after failing to catch Nichols. As they return to the crossroads, he and his companion are both out of breath and coughing from the pepper spray. One of the officers reported losing his spectacles. “Why [did] I spray myself?” his partner asks. "Hey, you sprayed me too, but just got me in the eyebrow," he laughs as he replied back. “I hope they stomp his ass,” he spoke about Nichols. When the police eventually got up to Nichols, he was pepper sprayed once more and subjected to vicious punches, kicks, and baton strikes. One officer announces to several others that "we're all sprayed" after handcuffing Nichols.

Nichols, a young parent, and FedEx employee died in the hospital three days later. His official cause of death has yet to be disclosed. The man's family and legal team linked his beating to Rodney King's in 1991 at the hands of Los Angeles police officers. RowVaughn Wells, the mother of Nichols, was shown the video before it was publicly released. She claimed she was unable to watch the entire thing, “but what I’ve heard it's very horrific, very horrific, and any of you that have children, please don’t let them see it,” she said. “All I heard my son say was, ‘What did I do?’ I just lost it from there,’’ she told CNN News in an interview. Wells also recalled how she heard her son in the video “cried out for me’’ while he was “beat like a piñata.”

After posting bonds ranging from $250,000 to $350,000 for each of the five, they were all released from the Shelby County Jail early on Friday, January 27.

People were quick to respond on social media, with one saying, "Why hasn’t he been suspended and charged? This is ridiculous. How many more times do we need to see this happen?" Another said, "Everyone look over here see it was white supremacistcy stfu man it was 5 gangster cops who took 1 black man's life ...." A third chimed in, "This is all a game for them." A fourth said, "yeah the Black Memphis Police officers really did lynch a dude for resisting."

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