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Tyre Nichols – updates: Kamala Harris to attend funeral as seven Memphis officers suspended after beating

Vice president Kamala Harris will attend the funeral of Tyre Nichols tomorrow in Memphis, where the Rev Al Sharpton will deliver a eulogy and civil rights attorney Ben Crump will announce a “call to action” in the wake of the death of the 29-year-old Black man.

Seven officers with the Memphis Police Department have faced disciplinary actions related to the beating of Nichols earlier this month, captured on horrying footage that was publicly released on Friday, galvanising an international demand for an end to police violence. Nichols died in hospital three days after he was beaten by police.

Five officers were fired and indicted on murder and kidnapping charges. A sixth officer, identified as Preston Hemphill, who is white, was suspended with pay pending a hearing, and a seventh officer who was not immediately identified was relieved of duty without pay.

Nichols’ parents – RowVaughn Wells and Rodney Wells – have also accepted an invitation from the Congressional Black Caucus to attend president Joe Biden’s State of the Union address next week, and caucus members will meet with the president on Thursday to discuss efforts to revive national police reform legislation.

Key points

  • Kamala Harris to attend funeral

  • Memphis police accused of ‘shielding’ white officer involved in Tyre Nichols beating

  • Tyre Nichols’ parents to attend State of the Union

  • Tyre Nichols: Video of Black man being beaten by Memphis police is released

  • Tyre Nichols suffered ‘extensive bleeding,’ autopsy shows

Vice president Kamala Harris to attend funeral

05:43 , Namita Singh

A funeral for Tyre Nichols begins this morning in Memphis at 10.30 am central time, where vice president Kamala Harris will join civil rights leaders and the families of Black Americans killed by police in attendance.

Those expected to attend the service at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis include Tamika Palmer, the mother of Breonna Taylor, and Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd.

Ms Harris will also be joined by former Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a senior adviser to the president for public engagement, and Mitch Landrieu, a White House senior adviser and infrastructure implementation coordinator and former mayor of New Orleans, said Harris’s press secretary Kirsten Allen.

The Rev Al Sharpton speaks during a news conference about the death of Tyre Nichols Tuesday, 31 January 2023, at Mason Temple in Memphis (AP)
The Rev Al Sharpton speaks during a news conference about the death of Tyre Nichols Tuesday, 31 January 2023, at Mason Temple in Memphis (AP)

Five Black officers have been fired and charged in Nichols’ 7 January beating and subsequent death. Video of the beating, which was released publicly last week, shows that many more people failed to help Nichols, who was also Black, beyond the five officers charged in his death.

Two more Memphis police officers have been disciplined and three emergency responders fired in connection with Nichols’ death, officials said Monday. Officer Preston Hemphill, who is white, and another officer whose name wasn’t released, have been suspended, police said.

Prosecutors weigh more charges against Memphis officials

06:40 , Namita Singh

Shelby County district attorney Steve Mulroy said on Tuesday that prosecutors could bring more criminal charges against police officers and others in connection with Nichols’ fatal beating, after mounting criticism over how Mulroy’s office and the Memphis Police Department have handled the case.

Demonstrators hold signs during a protest at Washington Square Park in New York on 28 January 2023, in response to the death of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police during a traffic stop (AP)
Demonstrators hold signs during a protest at Washington Square Park in New York on 28 January 2023, in response to the death of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police during a traffic stop (AP)

Five officers, all Black, were charged last week with second-degree murder and dismissed from the force. The department confirmed on Monday that a sixth officer, Preston Hemphill, had been suspended from duty soon after the 7 January attack but has not been criminally charged.

After video footage of the deadly encounter with police was made public on Friday, calls have grown louder for local police officials and prosecutors to be more transparent about the circumstances of the incident, given that the initial police reports do not match what was seen on the videos.

Tyre Nichols’ family grieves ‘on sacred ground’ in Memphis

06:20 , Namita Singh

On the eve of the funeral for Tyre Nichols, who died days after a brutal beating by Memphis police officers just minutes from his home, his family was sharing remembrances and expressing grief.

Nichols’ older brother, Jamal Dupree, lamented he was not there to save his brother from the attack he suffered at the fists and feet of the five officers, who have been charged with second-degree murder and other offenses.

“I’ve been fighting my whole life and the one fight I needed to be here for, I wasn’t here,” said Dupree, adding that violence was against his brother’s nature.“My brother was the most peaceful person I’ve ever met in life,” he said. “If my brother was here today and he had to say something, he’d tell us to do this peacefully.”

The mother of Tyre Nichols, RowVaughn Wells listens as Reverend Al Sharpton speaks during a news conference at Mason Temple: Church of God in Christ World Headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee (AFP via Getty Images)
The mother of Tyre Nichols, RowVaughn Wells listens as Reverend Al Sharpton speaks during a news conference at Mason Temple: Church of God in Christ World Headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee (AFP via Getty Images)

The family gathered Tuesday evening with the Rev. Al Sharpton at the historic Mason Temple Church of God in Christ in Memphis — where Martin Luther King, Jr delivered his final speech the night before he was assassinated — to speak about Nichols and the latest developments in the case.

Jim Jordan receives backlash for his remark

06:00 , Namita Singh

Ohio Republican Representative Jim Jordan has been slammed for arguing that there’s no legislation that could have prevented the beating by police officers that led to the death of Tyre Nichols, 29, in Memphis, Tennessee.

“Seeing something, not knowing how to help, and deciding to try nothing is just as bad as seeing something you know how to stop and doing nothing,” one Twitter user said in response to Mr Jordan’s lack of will to act.

“It’s so much easier to shrug and deny any ability to do something than it is to try. Pretty lazy if you ask me,” another added.

My colleague Gustaf Kilander reports:

Jim Jordan slammed for saying police reform couldn’t have prevented Nichols beating

Recap: Why was Tyre Nichols pulled over by Memphis police

05:20 , Namita Singh

On Friday evening (27 January), Memphis officials released video footage of the violent arrest of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who died three days after being severely beaten during a traffic stop.

The Memphis Police Department initially said that Nichols was pulled over around 8.30pm local time for “reckless driving.”

“As officers approached the driver of the vehicle, a confrontation occurred, and the suspect fled the scene on foot,” police said at the time. “Officers pursued the suspect and again attempted to take the suspect into custody. While attempting to take the suspect into custody, another confrontation occurred; however, the suspect was ultimately apprehended.”

Police leadership later walked back those claims.

Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who was pulled over while driving and died three days later, is detained by Memphis Police Department officers on January 7, 2023. (AP)
Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who was pulled over while driving and died three days later, is detained by Memphis Police Department officers on January 7, 2023. (AP)

“I’m going to be honest with you about the stop itself. What was said was there was witnessing of what was considered reckless driving,” police chief Cerelyn Davis told CNN on Friday. “We’ve looked at cameras. We’ve looked at body worn cameras. Even if something occurred prior to this stop, we’ve been unable to substantiate it.”

“We’ve taken a pretty extensive look to determine what that probable cause was and we have not been able to substantiate that,” she added. “It doesn’t mean that something didn’t happen, but there’s no proof.”

The Nichols family is also skeptical of the police version of events.

“We don’t know anything other than we got to see in the video,” Ben Crump, attorney for the Nichols family, said on Friday during a press conference.

“They say he was driving recklessly. We have to see it. We certainly can’t take their word for it.”

Memphis’ Scorpion unit among many to draw scrutiny in US

05:00 , Namita Singh

A car with dark tinted windows circles the block a few times before swerving onto the sidewalk. A handful of armed plainclothes police officers jump out and order everyone out of a double-parked car so they can search it, striking terror in the seconds before red and blue lights flash or an officer yells “police.”

A similar scene plays out in dozens of cities across the country every day.

The beating and death of Tyre Nichols by five former Memphis police officers who were members of a plainclothes anti-crime task force has renewed scrutiny on the squads often involved in a disproportionate number of use of force incidents and civilian complaints.

Memphis police officials— after initially defending the Scorpion unit— permanently disbanded the team Saturday just hours after the release of video that showed immediate and prolonged aggression from its officers.

Read the details here:

Memphis' SCORPION unit among many to draw scrutiny in US

‘Already knew they treated my brother like animal’

04:40 , Namita Singh

Nichols’ older brother, Jamal Dupree, told CNN’s that he has not watched the police video.

“I already knew how they treated him because I’ve seen it all over the world,” Mr Dupree said. “Police brutality is nothing new. I already knew they treated my brother like an animal. They treated him like he was nothing. I don’t have to watch the video to know that.”

He said he has seen reports about his brother and thinks other people are learning about who he was as a person.

“I think people really know my brother did not deserve this,” he added. “He was not that type of person. Yeah, he was just a good guy around the board. ... We want justice.”

People look on during a vigil for Tyre Nichols at Regency Community Skatepark on 30 January  2023 in Sacramento, California (Getty Images)
People look on during a vigil for Tyre Nichols at Regency Community Skatepark on 30 January 2023 in Sacramento, California (Getty Images)

Mr Dupree, a resident of California, added he feels guilty for not being there to protect his younger sibling.

“I’m 99 per cent sure that my brother has never gotten into a fight before. And the one time he got into an altercation with other humans, we wasn’t there to protect him. My brother was trying to cooperate with them,” he said.

Has Biden done enough on civil rights and policing?

04:15 , Josh Marcus

Read what our Independent correspondents have reported on the Biden administration record on civil rights.

Why Joe Biden has been a ‘consistently inconsistent’ ally for civil rights so far

Biden calls video of Tyre Nichols video ‘horrific’ and a ‘painful reminder’

Marjorie Taylor Greene equates police killing of Tyre Nichols with Ashli Babbitt

03:50 , Namita Singh

Marjorie Taylor Greene made a shaky comparison between the killings of Tyre Nichols and Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt which sickened many on social media this week in the wake of video being released depicting the unarmed motorist’s brutal killing by a gang of police officers.

Speaking during a committee hearing, the Georgia congresswoman went on an extended tangent about Ms Babbitt being “murdered” by police.

Noting that Ms Babbitt’s mother was in attendance, Ms Greene went on to say that Congress was doing nothing to address the treatment of other participants in the attack, many of whom remain incarcerated ahead of their respective trials.

My colleague John Bowden has more:

Marjorie Taylor Greene equates police killing of Tyre Nichols with Ashli Babbitt

‘Four of five police officers charged with murder had previous infractions’

03:29 , Namita Singh

Memphis media outlets reported that four of the five officers charged with murder in the case had previous infractions on their records, according to personnel files obtained through records requests.

Most involved procedural violations, car accidents and equipment.

Two of the officers, Demetrius Haley and Desmond Mills Jr, received reprimands for failing to file “response to resistance” forms after incidents involving women they arrested, according to the files.

Al Sharpton calls police ‘gangbangers’ as Tyre Nichols family demands justice at MLK ‘mountaintop’ church

02:49 , Namita Singh

In a fiery speech, civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton compared the Memphis police officers who severely beat Tyre Nichols to a group of gang members.

“We talk a lot about the gangbangers in the street and what colours they wear,” he said during remarks on Tuesday evening. “In Memphis, they wear the blue color, in uniform.”

The activist also called on state and federal officials to pass sweeping police reforms.

Read all the details in our breaking news story.

‘There’s already been violence'

02:30 , Josh Marcus

Al Sharpton hit out at people who worried protesters would be violent following the police killing of Tyre Nichols.

“The nerve to ask whether there will be violence,” Mr Sharpton said during a speech on Tuesday. “There’s already been violence. That’s why we’re having a funeral tomorrow, because you were violent on an unarmed man.”

The civil rights activist said he and his fellow organisers wouldn’t stop until federal action was taken to stop police violence.“We will continue until Tyre is able to head up to Martin’s mountaintop,” Mr Sharpton added, referring to the historic “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech Martin Luther King, Jr, gave at the Mason Temple where he and the Nichols family are now standing. “That’s why we wanted to stand this on this sacred ground.”

NAACP Memphis president Van D Turner, Jr, also called on state officials to pass the recently proposed Tyre Nichols Criminal Justice Reform Bill, which would require police de-escalation, first aid, and intervention in cases of excessive force.

Al Sharpton calls killing of Tyre Nichols a ‘disgrace'

02:21 , Josh Marcus

Civil rights activist Al Sharpton called the police killing of Tyre Nichols a “disgrace” during an event on Tuesday evening, ahead of Nichols’s funeral tomorrow.

“What happened to Tyre is a disgrace to this country,” Mr Sharpton said on Tuesday.

“We talk a lot about the gang bangers in the street and what colours they wear,” he added. “In Memphis, they wear the blue color, in uniform.”

'The need for justice has brought us here again’

02:15 , Josh Marcus

Faith leaders and civil rights activists pointed out the parallels between the civil rights era of Martin Luther King, Jr, and the one now of Black Lives Matter during an event on Tuesday night.

“The need for justice has brought us here again,” Bishop Brandon Porter of the Church of God in Christ said on Tuesday from the historic Mason Temple in Memphis, where Dr Martin Luther King Jr gave his final speech before being assassinated.

He was joined by the family of Tyre Nichols, who died after being severly beaten by police earlier this month.

Bishop Porter also applauded the efforts of Memphis officials to swiftly fire then prosecute the officers involved in the killing of Nihcols, and thanked the Nichols family for their message of peace.

“To see you speak peace to a troubled nation, we thank you,” the bishop said, adding, “This is a pivotal time for America to band together so there is justice for all.”

Nichols family to address public before funeral

02:07 , Josh Marcus

The family of Tyre Nichols is expected to address the public any moment from the historic Mason Temple in Memphis, where Dr Martin Luther King Jr gave his final speech before being assassinated.

Civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton and civil rights attorney Ben Crump are also expected to appear at the event.

Watch their remarks live here.

Nichols, who died after being severly beaten by police earlier this month, will be buried on Wednesday at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, with Mr Sharpton delivering the eulogy.

Everything we know about the seven officers disciplined in Tyre Nichols beating

01:00 , Alex Woodward

Five officers involved with the brutal beating of Tyre Nichols – Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr, Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith — were fired on 20 January and have since been charged with second-degree murder.

Another officer, Preston Hemphill, was suspended, along with a seventh unidentified officer.

Here is what we know about them:

Everything we know about the seven officers disciplined in Tyre Nichols beating

Four videos, 56 minutes, seven Memphis police officers, one deadly arrest: What the Tyre Nichols footage shows

00:00 , Alex Woodward

Nearly an hour of footage showing Memphis police officers pepper spray, baton, punch, kick and tase Tyre Nichols helped bring swift murder charges against the officers involved. The Independent’s Bevan Hurley explains what the footage captured:

Four videos, 56 minutes, one deadly arrest: What the Tyre Nichols footage shows

ICYMI: Memphis police accused of ‘shielding’ white officer involved in Tyre Nichols beating

Tuesday 31 January 2023 23:30 , Alex Woodward

The only known white officer involved in the brutal beating and subsequent death of Tyre Nichols was “shielded and protected” by Memphis Police Department, attorneys for the family said in a statement.

Memphis police accused of ‘shielding’ white officer involved in Tyre Nichols beating

ICYMI: How Donald Trump responded to the killing of Tyre Nichols

Tuesday 31 January 2023 23:00 , Alex Woodward

The former president addressed the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols in remarks to the Associated Press during a campaign stop in South Carolina a day after the release of horrific footage showing a grouof of Memphis police officers brutally beating the 29-year-old.

Trump says Tyre Nichols killing ‘Never should have happened’

Coming soon: Al Sharpton and civil rights advocates to address disciplinary actions against Memphis officers

Tuesday 31 January 2023 22:28 , Alex Woodward

Rev Al Sharpton, attorney Ben Crump, NAACP Memphis chapter president Van Turner and the family of Tyre Nichols will discuss the latest developments in the case of his death and the recently announced discplinary actions involving seven Memphis police officers and three other emergency workers involved in his killing.

They will address the media from the historic Mason Temple in Memphis, where Dr Martin Luther King Jr delivered his final speech before his murder.

They also will be joined by other alleged victims of the now-disbanded SCORPION unit. The unite, which launched in November of 2021, included 40 officers across four teams who patrolled “high crime hotspots” throughout the city but had faced a wave of accusations of excessive use of force and civil rights violations.

A press conference is scheduled to begin at 7.30pm central time.

Two men claim police officer charged with Nichols murder threatened them in unrelated incident

Tuesday 31 January 2023 21:37 , Alex Woodward

Two Memphis residents told NBC News that one of the police officers charged with murdering Tyre Nichols had pulled a gun on them and threatened to shoot them in an unrelated incident.

Glenn Harris, 24, and Demarius Hervey, 27, claimed that they were surrounded by police cars outside a gas station in August 2020, then tried to flee in Mr Harris’s car because they feared arrest for possession of cannabis.

One officer, Emmitt Martin III, allegedly pinned Mr Harris to the pavement with a knee on his neck and threatened to “blow your face off”.

An affidavit obtained by NBC News that appears to be from the same incident shows that the men were arrested after Mr Harris crashed a car and after a brief foot chase. Mr Harris was accused of possession of a handgun while under the influence, reckless driving, driving with a suspended, revoked or canceled license, leaving the scene of an accident, and evading arrest. No charges were filed against Mr Hervey.

Just in: Kamala Harris to attend funeral of Tyre Nichols

Tuesday 31 January 2023 20:42 , Alex Woodward

Vice President Kamala Harris will attend the funeral of Tyre Nichols in Memphis on Wednesday, the White House has confirmed.

Attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the Nichols family, said in a statement that Mr Crump, Nichols’s mother RowVaughn Wells and stepfather Rodney Wells spoke with Ms Harris “for over thirty minutes about the tragic loss of Tyre.”

“Vice President Harris and Ms Wells spoke exclusively, and during this emotional time, the Vice President was able to console Ms Wells and even help her smile,” he added. “Tyre’s parents invited Vice President Harris to the funeral tomorrow, and were pleased that she accepted their invitation. Mr and Mrs Wells are grateful for Vice President Harris reaching out to them during this heartbreaking time and for her sensitivity on the call.”

Tuesday 31 January 2023 20:03 , Alex Woodward

Far-right Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was recently re-seated on House committees after members voted to remove her in 2021, returned to the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday, claiming that defendants prosecuted for their actions connected to the attackon the US Capitol are facing “civil rights abuses” moments after discussing the killing of Tyre Nichols.

She suggested that the “civil rights and liberties” Ashli Babbitt, who was fatally shot by a US Capitol Police officer after she attempted to break into the House chambers, were “violated” on 6 January, 2021.

“Civil rights and liberties are important, but there is a clear difference between Tyre Nichols and Ashli Babbit,” she wrote on Twitter.

Jim Jordan slammed for saying police reform couldn’t have prevented ‘evil’ in Tyre Nichols beating

Tuesday 31 January 2023 20:00 , Alex Woodward

Ohio Republican congressman has faced criticism for arguing that no legislation that could have prevented the beating by police officers that led to the death of Tyre Nichols.

The chair of the House Judiciary Committee said on NBC’s Meet The Press on Sunday that he was unsure that “any law, any training, any reform” could have prevented the assault that took place during a traffic stop.

His remarks come as the Biden administration, congressional Democrats and the Congressional Black Caucus hope to revive bipartisan police reform legislation that stalled over GOP objections in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder.

Jim Jordan slammed for saying police reform couldn’t have prevented Nichols beating

Tonight: Rev Al Sharpton, NAACP and Nichols family to speak out from historic Mason Temple in Memphis

Tuesday 31 January 2023 19:30 , Alex Woodward

Rev Al Sharpton, attorney Ben Crump, NAACP Memphis chapter president Van Turner and the family of Tyre Nichols will discuss the latest developments in the case of his death and recently announced discplinary actions involving seven Memphis police officers and three other emergency workers.

They will address the media from the historic Mason Temple, where Dr Martin Luther King Jr delivered his final speech before his murder.

They also will be joined by other alleged victims of the now-disbanded SCORPION unit.

A press conference is scheduled to begin at 7.30pm central time.

Families of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd to attend Tyre Nichols funeral

Tuesday 31 January 2023 19:00 , Alex Woodward

Those expected to attend a funeral for Tyre Nichols on Wednesday at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis include Tamika Palmer, the mother of Breonna Taylor, and Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd.

Rev Al Sharpton will deliver a euology, and Ben Crump also is expected to deliver remarks in a “call to action” following the police killings of Nichols, Taylor, Floyd and other Black Americans that have galvanised an international demand for an end to police violence.

Rev Al Sharpton to deliver eulogy at funeral for Tyre Nichols

Tuesday 31 January 2023 18:30 , Alex Woodward

The family of Tyre Nichols and mourners are preparing for his funeral service on Wednesday at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis.

Rev Al Sharpton will deliver a euology at the ceremony, and civil rights attorney Ben Crump – who is representing Nichols’s family – will also deliver a “call to action”, according to a statement from his office.

The ceremony will begin at 10.30am central time.

Biden to meet with Congressional Black Caucus on police reform

Tuesday 31 January 2023 18:00 , Alex Woodward

After a bipartisan effort to revive nationwide police reform legislation stalled in Congress, members of the Congressional Black Caucus will meet with President Joe Biden’s administration this week to discuss reviving the effort in the wake of Tyre Nichols’s death.

In 2021, the House of Representatives passed a version of a bill – to be named the George Floyd Justice in Police Act – without any Republican support on a vote of 220 to 212. A similar bill was passed in 2020 but languished in a then-GOP-controlled Senate.

The measure intended to overhaul “qualified immunity” policies, change the threshold for permitting use of force, prohibit police chokeholds at the federal level, ban no-knock warrants in federal drug cases, and create a national registry of police misconduct cases under the auspices of the Justice Department, among other reforms. It does not “defund” police departments, despite campaign slogans from Republican officials.

Rodney King’s lawyer on Tyre Nichols: Racist policing has plagued the US for decades

Tuesday 31 January 2023 17:30 , Alex Woodward

Milton Grimes, who was the attorney for the late Rodney King, said that King’s beating by Los Angeles Police Department officers in 1991 “should have been a wake-up call to address the military style, racist police culture of violence in the US, but sadly nothing has changed.”

“The US is not a war zone but the violence impacted on African Americans speaks of a culture of impunity, and oppressive use of force,” he said. “The aggressive nature of policing in the US is a national disgrace falling well below international standards.”

Rodney King’s lawyer on Tyre Nichols: Racist policing has plagued the US for decades

Ben Crump talks police violence

Tuesday 31 January 2023 17:00 , Alex Woodward

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump – who is representing the family of Tyre Nichols and has represented the families of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, among others – discussed police violence and systemic failures with The Daily Show’s guest host DL Hughley.

He urged Congress and President Biden’s administration to advance police reform measures after bipartisan legislation stalled in the wake of Floyd’s murder.

“Every battle we win might just save your child’s life,” he said.

Initial Memphis police report falsely claims Tyre Nichols ‘fought’ officers

Tuesday 31 January 2023 16:20 , Alex Woodward

A leaked incident report on Tyre Nichols’ arrest and fatal beating by Memphis police officers contains glaring inaccuracies that were later exposed after the release of bodycam and surveillance footage.

The report, written two hours after Nichols’ beating on 7 January, claimed that the 29-year-old was “irate” and refused lawful detention, tried to start a fight with officers, and also attempted to take an officer’s gun, during an initial traffic stop.

Video evidence released on 27 January told a very different story, showing officers swarming Nichols’ car and dragging him out, shouting contradictory commands and using pepper spray and a taser on him while he was trying to comply.

The Independent’s Bevan Hurley reports:

Initial Memphis police report falsely claims Tyre Nichols ‘fought’ officers

These 8 questions remain unanswered

Tuesday 31 January 2023 16:00 , Alex Woodward

Damning footage – taken from the police officers’ bodyworn cameras and a police pole camera – was finally released to the public on Friday. But the hour-long footage has left several questions still unanswered.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp explains what we still don’t know:

These questions remain unanswered after video exposed police beating Tyre Nichols

Eric Garcia: 'Republicans choose their words carefully on Tyre Nichols’

Tuesday 31 January 2023 15:30 , Alex Woodward

The Independent’s Washington chief Eric Garcia writes about a long weekend of relative silence from the GOP:

The statements from the Republicans who have spoken show that they clearly know the video is disturbing. But the rhetoric they use show that they likely hope to treat this as an isolated incident and likely won’t spring into action on it.

Republicans choose their words carefully on Tyre Nichols

‘Police are not always telling the whole truth'

Tuesday 31 January 2023 15:00 , Alex Woodward

The Independent’s Josh Marcus writes:

As the nation turns its attention to the death of Tyre Nichols, there’s something you need to know. In cases like these, police don’t always tell the full truth. Sometimes they seek to distract from it. Other times they flat-out lie.

This is well known to victims of police violence, civil rights organisers, and those, like me, who spend their days covering policing. But it’s an important thing to remember after the Friday release of law enforcement video of Nichols’s 7 January arrest, perhaps the most explosive instance of police misconduct since George Floyd.

Read what he has learned about law enforcement distortions while covering the cops:

Tyre Nichols’ death shows us the police are not always telling the truth | Voices

How to support the family of Tyre Nichols

Tuesday 31 January 2023 14:30 , Alex Woodward

A fundraiser created by the mother of Tyre Nichols has raised more than $1m for the family in the wake of his death.

“My husband and I have had our entire world turned upside down by what happened to our son,” RowVaughn Wells wrote in the description of a GoFundMe page raising funds for the family.

“We are two hardworking, loving parents, [and] now have to turn our full-time attention to seeking proper justice for our son,” she added. “We have yet to have the proper space to begin our grieving process, which will be long and burdensome.”

The fundraiser will help cover the costs of mental health services and time off work, where they do not have unlimited paid time off, she said.

The funds will also support the creation of a memorial skate park for Nichols, “in honor of his love for skating and sunset,” according to Ms Wells.

How to support the family of Tyre Nichols

Tuesday 31 January 2023 14:00 , Graig Graziosi

Four videos, 56 minutes, seven Memphis police officers, one deadly arrest: What the Tyre Nichols footage shows

The release of footage of the fatal assault of Tyre Nichols graphically depicted the prolonged and savage fatal beating that was meted out by five Memphis Police Department officers.

But questions persist that the edited footage failed to answer, most notably the claimed traffic violation that had led officers to pull Nichols over in the first place, and what caused the officers to respond so violently.

The Independent’s Bevan Hurley has more in the story below:

Four videos, 56 minutes, one deadly arrest: What the Tyre Nichols footage shows