NORFOLK, Va. — Leaders of law enforcement agencies and organizations across the country are reacting to the body cam video showing five Memphis Police Department officers brutally beating 29-year-old Tyre Nichols following a traffic stop.
Police released four different video clips Friday night. One of the clips shows the initial traffic stop and struggle between officers and Nichols. Nichols ran off as officers tried to restrain him. Another clip shows an officer arriving in a residential neighborhood as several other officers tried to restrain Nichols again.
A video from a pole camera shows a swarm of officers surrounding Nichols. He is beaten as the officers attempt to arrest him.
Shortly after the video's release, Virginia Beach Police Department's Chief Paul Neudigate released a statement, saying "outraged, heartbroken, and disappointed" and
"Disappointed to see the premise of police brutality continue to sow doubt and mistrust on a profession that I, and so many brave men and women in this great nation, have passionately and unwaveringly devoted our lives to," he said. "The actions of those involved are not representative of the policing profession."
In an interview during WTKR News 3 at 11 Friday night, former Norfolk Police Department Chief Larry Boone who is also News 3's Law Enforcement Analyst said he agrees with Neudigate's statement. Boone said there was no de-escalation in this narrative.
"You had multiple officers giving him multiple commands, conflicting with another, they tell him to get on his stomach. He's already on his stomach," Boone said. "At one point, you see him look over his shoulder and you see the fear, and you know he's about to run and then he takes off."
Boone called the officers "highly unprofessional."
"They come across, I hate to say this, as thugs," Boone said. "You have Mr. Nichols who's being positioned for officers to come up and kick him about the face. Beat him with the baton about the face and punch him about the head, as well. That's highly unprofessional."
Boone said he could see about 12 officers in the video, not just five, hitting Nichols nine times in a four-minute period.
"They have a duty to intervene, they have a duty to offer care. None of them did that. In fact, they had a conversation like they were in a saloon," Boone said. "More heads are going to roll over this."
Boone said it's important to note that the bulk of officers are good people, "but we had some bad apples, not an apple or two, but some bad apples that we have to deal with."
Boone questioned whether the officers involved had been vetted for their specialty division positions.
"Typically officers are vetted with respect to their discipline history," Boone said. "I'm wondering had those reports been vetted by their supervisors, as well."
At the end of the interview with News 3's Kurt Williams, Boone commended Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis.
"I think she's done phenomenally," he said. "There will be more she will have to terminate as well just by looking at that. There's more officers that should have been addressed other than the five that were."
