Five ex-police officers prosecuted for the death of a young black man in Memphis (USA)

Biden calls on Congress to pass the George Floyd Police Justice Act

Five former police officers from the US city of Memphis will be prosecuted for the alleged commission of a murder crime for the beating they gave to Tire Nichols, a 29-year-old African-American young man who died on January 10 from injuries caused by the agents.

Tire Nichols died three days after he was pulled over by Memphis Police for alleged reckless driving on his motorcycle on January 7. The officers stopped him at a traffic stop and used force to arrest him, CNN reported.

Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr, Emmitt Martin III, Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean, fired from Memphis Police last week, will face charges of manslaughter, aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated kidnapping and two counts of mischief. conduct.

These five ex-agents, also of African-American origin, joined the Memphis Police in the last six years. His arrest sets the stage for the release Friday afternoon of surveillance and body camera footage of his interaction with Nichols, which local authorities say could spark violence in Memphis.

Lawyers for Nichols's family have recounted that he was severely beaten, citing a video the family was able to view earlier this week. Nichols had "extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating," according to the legal team, citing preliminary results of an autopsy they commissioned, according to The Washington Post.

Likewise, the police officers who have seen the videos have strongly condemned the arrest. At a news conference Thursday announcing the criminal charges, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David B. Rausch said the officers' actions were "absolutely egregious."

Nichols' arrest and subsequent death come amid heightened scrutiny over how police treat black people, particularly since the May 2020 killing by police officers of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which gave rise to the protest movement known as Black Lives Matter.

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, has stressed the importance of not ignoring the fact that deadly encounters with law enforcement disparately affect the black and Hispanic population, calling on Congress to move forward with the George Floyd Police Justice Act.

"Public trust is the foundation of public safety and there are still too many places in the United States where the bonds of trust are frayed or broken," the US president said, according to a White House statement.

In this sense, Biden has affirmed that Tire's death "is a painful reminder" that more must be done to guarantee that the American criminal justice system fulfills "the promise of fair and impartial justice, with equal treatment and dignity for everyone".

For "real change" to occur, according to Biden, it is important to hold people accountable when law enforcement officers break their oath.

"That's why I asked Congress to send me the George Floyd Police Justice Act. When they didn't, I signed an executive order that included stricter rules on the use of force and accountability provisions for federal law enforcement." , has continued the president of the United States.

Meanwhile, the US president has urged the population to attend the protests peacefully, stressing that "violence is never acceptable."

"While Americans mourn, the Department of Justice carries out its investigation and state authorities continue their work, I join the Tire family in calling for peaceful protest," he added, assuring that "the outrage is understandable, but violence is never acceptable."