Tyre Nichols video ‘worse’ than Rodney King: Police chief

The shaken police chief of Memphis said Friday that the fatal cop beat-down of Tyre Nichols involved “acts that defy humanity’’ — adding it was as horrific as the notorious 1991 beating of Rodney King.

While the Tennessee city and entire country braced for the explosive release Friday evening of the video of Nichols’ beating, city Police Chief Cerelyn Davis ripped the five accused officers — who were sprung from jail on bail Friday after being charged with murder.

Davis told CNN she watched the footage of Nichols’ Jan. 7 beating for the first time Sunday and described it as “about the same if not worse’’ than the infamous video of King being viciously beaten by Los Angeles cops during a 1991 driving stop — which sparked some of the worst riots the country has ever seen.

Nichols’ beating is “very much aligned with’’ that level of violence, Davis said.

“I was outraged. It was incomprehensible to me,’’ Davis said of her officers’ violence against Nichols.

“It was unconscionable. I don’t think I’ve witnessed anything of that nature in my entire career. Really. It was that bad.

“You’re going to see acts that defy humanity,” she said, referring to the video capturing the beating. “You’re going to see a disregard for life, a duty of care, that we’re all sworn to. … There was an amount of aggression that is unexplainable.’’

Davis insisted that the chilling incident did not involve race. The victim was black, as are the five accused cops.

“As this video will show you, it doesn’t matter who’s wearing this uniform — we have this same responsibility,’’ Davis said.

Read more of The Post’s coverage of Tyre Nichols’ beating death

“It takes race off the table,’’ the top cop said of the police brutality against Nichols. “It takes off the table that issues and problems in law enforcement is about race, and it is not.

“It is about human dignity, integrity, accountability and the ability to protect our community.”

In 2021, the Memphis force had about 56% black officers, according to a Fox TV affiliate. Black residents in the city made up about 65% of the population at the time. 

Davis claimed that the cops involved in Nichols’ death did “absolutely’’ everything wrong in the traffic stop.

She noted that the department has been “unable to substantiate at this time’’ that Nichols was even recklessly driving, which is the reason the officers gave for stopping him in the first place.

“There’s no proof,’’ at least at this point, she said, noting that investigators had pored over surveillance footage from around the city in their probe.

Nichols, an avid photographer, was driving home from taking photos of the sunset at a local park when he was pulled over for alleged reckless driving, his family said. 

The man fled the stop, only to be pursued by the cops, who quickly caught up with him and administered their beating, authorities have said. Nichols was pepper-sprayed, tasered, kicked, punched and restrained.

Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, recalled to CNN how her son “cried out for me’’ while he was “beat like a pinata” — a scene eerily reminiscent of the infamous fatal police-brutality case of George Floyd in Minneapolis,  Minn., in 2020. 

“He cried out for me. … He was trying to get home to safety,’’ Wells said Friday of her son — whose funeral is set for Wednesday, with the Rev. Al Sharpton giving the eulogy. 

“He was a mamma’s boy, that boy loved me to death,’’ she said, adding that she has been unable to watch the whole video but several people close to her have and described it for her. 

“Where was the humanity? They beat my son like a pinata,’’ Wells said. “People don’t know what those police officers did to our family. And what they did to their own families.“They brought shame to their own families.  They brought shame to the black community.I feel sorry for them,’’ the mom said.  

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“They need to learn that everyone is human and everyone should be treated with respect.”

She recalled the excruciating moment she saw her dying son in the hospital, where he was “already gone” from cardiac arrest and kidney failure. 

“They had beat him to a pulp,” she said. 

She said his head was “swollen like a watermelon.

“His neck was busting because of the swelling — they broke his neck,” Wells said. 

The stepdad, Rodney Wells, said at a press conference later Friday that he wanted more severe charges brought against the cops, who face second-degree murder.

“I did push for Murder One,” he said. “But the charges were told to us and explained. We are satisfied with the charges.”

RowVaughn noted that her son was 6’3” but just 150 pounds because of Crohn’s disease.

“And those men, if you combine their weight, it was over a thousand pounds, beating and beating a 150-pound person to death. Because that’s what they did, beat my son to death.”

An ambulance arrived at the scene to aid Nichols only “after some period of time of waiting around,’’ Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy noted to reporters Thursday.

Nichols lingered on life support for three days before finally succumbing to his injuries.

Authorities including in New York City are bracing for protests around the country after the release of the video. 

President Biden has joined Nichols’ family in calling for peaceful rallies. The president, who spoke to Nichols’ mother and stepdad Friday afternoon, has not seen the sickening footage, the White house said.

“The President commended the family’s courage and strength” when speaking with the couple, the administration said in a statement.

King’s own caught-on-video beat-down in LA in 1991 sparked one of the most destructive race riots in US history. King, 47, drowned in his swimming pool in 2012. 

King’s daughter told TMZ that she is at a loss for words when it comes to offering any advice to Nichols’ family on how to deal with his death or the release of the video. 

“The world thinks you’re supposed to be normal after this,’’ Lora King said. “There’s nothing I can say to prepare them.  … I’m at a loss for words. I’m numb.’’The five officers in Nichols’ case — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith — are all charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.They face up to 60 years behind bars on the murder rap alone.

Each of the officers posted between $250,000 and $350,000 bail and were released from jail early Friday. They have already been fired from the force.

Martin’s lawyer, William Massey, told reporters Thursday, “No one out there that night intended for Tyre Nichols to die,” according to CBS. “No one. No one.

“Police officers have a difficult and dangerous job. It’s probably one of their worst fears that something like this would happen on their watch.”

Davis said there is currently no evidence that the suspected officers unleashed similar brutality in the past.

“However, we’re taking a deeper dive into arrests, previous video camera footage,’’ she said. 

The cops were members of a special unit called “Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods,” or SCORPION, and targeted particularly dangerous sections of the city.

One of the Nichols family’s lawyers, Antonio Romanucci, said at the kin’s press conference Friday that the victim’s relatives are demanding the city dismantle the program. 

“The charges state they acted together as a pack of wolves,” he said of the accused cops, adding they were treated with “whispered immunity.”

Chief family lawyer Ben Crump said at the press conference that relatives plans on filing a civil case lawsuit claiming “this unit engaged in excessive force before.”  

“[Nichols’] last words on this Earth were, “Mom! Mom! Mom!” I mean, he’s screaming for her. … It’s a traffic stop, for God’s sake,” Crump said. 

The lawyer said he hopes the swiftness with which Memphis authorities are handling this case involving black officers will be copied for police-brutality crimes down the pike, including those committed by white officers.

The Rev. Al Sharpton told the BBC that unlike Chief Davis, he believes race played a role in the horror. 

“I do not believe these five black police officers would have done this had he been a young white man,” Sharpton claimed.