Protesters are seen outside the nation’s capital Friday night, after footage was released showing the police killing of Tire Nichols.
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
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Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
Protesters are seen outside the nation’s capital Friday night, after footage was released showing the police killing of Tire Nichols.
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
Many protests are taking place across the United States after body camera footage of the killing of Tire Nichols was released on Friday. All five officers involved in Nichols’ arrest were fired and charged with second-degree murder, assault and kidnapping earlier this week.
Protests in some cities led to the call of the National Guard, while others affected transit.
In Memphis, Tennessee, where Nichols died, protesters closed the I-55 bridge, a major highway in the city, shortly after the release of the video. Officials too Grand Central Station closes in anticipation of protests in New York City, where protesters can already be seen in Times Square. Protest in Boston traffic stopped.
Officials have been preparing for protests across the nation in the days leading up to the release of the footage. President Joe Biden called the footage “horrible,” while Antonio Romanucci, a lawyer representing the Nichols family, said the 29-year-old was treated like a “human piñata.”
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency this Friday, members of the National Guard[aumembrital-GwardjaNazzjonalican be seen in Atlantatrying to suppress the protesters. People he is also seen protesting outside the White House hours after Biden urged the citizens “not to resort to violence or destruction.”
Also on Friday, White House officials also spoke with mayors in more than a dozen major cities — such as Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Chicago — to inform them of federal assistance.
Nichols’ family, including his mother, RowVaughn Wells, and father, Rodney Wells, asked the protesters to remain peaceful.
“I don’t want us to burn the cities, to tear up our streets, because that’s not what my son stood for,” Wells said during a vigil for her son on Thursday.
