Minggu, 29 Januari 2023

Tyre Nichols' lawyer urges lawmakers to pass urgent police reforms - BBC

Lawyer Ben Crump stands at a lecternReuters

The lawyer representing Tyre Nichols' family has called on the US Congress to pass urgent police reform legislation in the wake of his death.

Mr Nichols, 29, was fatally beaten by five police officers in January.

Speaking to US media, Ben Crump urged President Joe Biden to use Mr Nichols's death to gain support for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

And he said Mr Nichols's mother was coping with her son's loss by hoping that his death could lead to change.

"She believes in her heart Tyre was sent here for an assignment and that there is going to be greater good that comes from this tragedy," Mr Crump said.

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act was introduced in 2021 after Mr Floyd was killed by a white police officer kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes. His death sparked international protests.

The bill would see a federal ban on the use of chokeholds by police and make it easier to bring charges against offending officers.

Lawmakers in the House of Representatives - which was then controlled by the Democratic Party - passed the bill in March 2021, but it was later held up by opposition in the Senate.

"Shame on us if we don't use his tragic death to finally get the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act passed," Mr Crump told CNN. The lawyer said if the law did not change, deaths at the hands of police would continue.

Derrick Johnson, the president of the NAACP civil rights group - also called on legislators to take action.

"By failing to write a piece of legislation, you're writing another obituary," Mr Johnson said in a statement. "We can name all the victims of police violence, but we can't name a single law you have passed to address it."

But the Republican House of Representatives Judiciary chair Jim Jordan warned politicians to not rush legislation.

"These five individuals did not have any respect for life... I don't know if there's anything you can do to stop the kind of evil we saw in that video," he told NBC's Meet the Press programme.

Mr Nichols taking a selfie
Reuters

A childhood friend of Mr Nichols told the BBC his legacy would be preserved through legal reform. Angelina Paxton said he "always wanted to change the world".

Ms Paxton said Mr Nichols was "very passionate about Black Lives Matter".

"He always wanted to make a difference," she said. "If it gives anyone any comfort out of all those pain that we're all going through right now, just know that I can guarantee you he's up there right now smiling, because he finally did what he always wanted to do."

On Saturday, the Memphis Police Department disbanded the so-called Scorpion special unit of which the police officers now charged with murder were members.

The unit was a 50-person team that was tasked with bringing down crime levels - particularly car thefts and gang-related offences.

Scorpion stood for "Street Crimes Operations to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods".

The five officers - Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr, Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith - were fired from the Memphis police force last week.

Four of the five posted bail and were released from custody by Friday morning, according to jail records.

Lawyers for Mr Martin and Mr Mills have said their clients will plead not guilty.

In an interview with BBC News on Friday, Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis said the Scorpion unit was created to be "more responsive" and "more proactive" to gun violence in the city. But she acknowledged that the officers who brutally beat Tyre Nichols "decided to go off the rails".

"We are doing an individual evaluation of all units," she said. "This is a necessary step. We want to be fully transparent to the community."

Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr said two deputy sheriffs who "appeared on the scene following" the confrontation have also been suspending pending an internal investigation.

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2023-01-29 20:31:16Z
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Israel to strengthen West Bank settlements and loosen civilian gun laws - Financial Times

Israel’s hardline new government has said it will make it easier for civilians to carry guns and strengthen settlements in the occupied West Bank, after Jerusalem was hit by two shootings in less than 24 hours.

Seven Israelis were killed and three injured in the first shooting, which was the bloodiest attack in the city since 2008, and took place near a synagogue in a Jewish settlement on Holocaust Memorial day. Two more were injured in the second attack near the Old City on Saturday.

Israel’s security cabinet said that in response to the attacks, Israel would expand and accelerate firearms licensing, which it said would “enable thousands of additional citizens to carry weapons”.

It added that it would also take “steps to strengthen settlement” in the West Bank, which makes up the bulk of the Palestinian territories, but has been occupied by Israel since 1967, following “celebrations” by some Palestinians in the wake of the shootings.

“While we are not seeking escalation, we are prepared for any possibility,” prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said ahead of a cabinet meeting on Sunday. “Our answer to terrorism is an iron fist and a powerful, swift and precise response.”

The surge in violence, which follows the deadliest Israeli raid in the West Bank for two decades and an exchange of rocket fire between Israel and militants in Gaza, has exacerbated fears that long-simmering Israeli-Palestinian tensions could erupt into a broader conflict.

It also poses an early test for Netanyahu’s new government, which is dominated by extreme right and ultrareligious politicians, and came to power last month pledging to take a hard line against the Palestinians.

On Sunday morning, police sealed the house of the gunman behind the first attack, a 21-year-old Palestinian from East Jerusalem who was killed by police at the scene, as a prelude to demolishing it. The attacker in the second shooting, a 13-year-old Palestinian from East Jerusalem, was shot and hospitalised.

During the cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu ordered officials to draw up legislation on “revoking residency and citizenship of terrorists and removing them to the territory of the Palestinian Authority”.

He also asked for a “draft memorandum” on legislation that would allow for “the immediate dismissal of workers who have supported terrorism, without need for a hearing”.

The security cabinet did not give further details of the steps to strengthen settlements, which it said would be submitted this week. The military said on Saturday that it had already moved an additional battalion to the West Bank.

Most of the international community considers the settlements illegal. However, important positions in Israel’s new government are held by ultranationalists and settlers, such as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who are committed to expanding settlements.

On Saturday night, the security cabinet approved a series of other measures, including revoking the national insurance rights of “families of terrorists that support terrorism”, reinforcing military and police units and expanding operations to collect illegal weapons.

The Palestinian Authority condemned the plans as “racist collective punishments that incite further escalation and violence”.

The latest cycle of violence erupted after Israeli commandos killed nine Palestinians during a raid in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank on Thursday which targeted militants from Palestinian Islamic Jihad. More than 30 Palestinians, including both militants and civilians, have been killed by Israeli forces this year.

In response to the raid, the Palestinian Authority cancelled security co-ordination with Israel. The US has urged the PA to reverse the decision. Secretary of state Antony Blinken is due to visit both Israel and the West Bank this week as part of a pre-planned trip to the region.

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2023-01-29 16:33:41Z
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Pakistan: 40 dead after bus falls into ravine - Sky News

Forty people have died after a bus fell into a ravine in Balochistan in Pakistan, local media reported.

The incident took place at Lasbela, a mountainous region in the south of the country.

The bus was carrying 44 passengers.

Lasbela Assistant Commissioner, Hamza Anjum Nadeem, said the bodies of 40 people, including women and children, were recovered, while four injured passengers were rescued.

He said: "The accident happened due to over-speeding and the bus crashed into the pillar of a bridge.

"It caught fire soon after falling into the ravine."

People look at the burnt wreckage of a bus accident in Bela, an area of Lasbela district of Balochistan province, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023. The passenger bus crashed into a pillar and fell off a bridge, catching fire and killing dozens of people in southern Pakistan on Sunday, a government official said. (AP Photo/Muhammad Saleem)
Image: Most of the passengers were killed in the wreckage. Pic: AP

The officer added that the bodies were charred beyond recognition and were being taken to Karachi for DNA sampling.

He said that after identification, they will be handed over to the victims' relatives.

The chief minister of Balochistan, Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo, expressed his sorrow for the loss of life and ordered the authorities to provide the best medical facilities to the injured.

The incident came on the same day as a boat capsized in northwest Pakistan, killing 10 children.

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2023-01-29 11:44:45Z
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Jerusalem shooting: Israel proposes looser gun laws after attacks - BBC

Israeli security personnel work at a scene where a suspected incident of shooting attack took placeReuters

Israel's security cabinet has approved measures to make it easier for Israelis to carry guns after two separate attacks by Palestinians in Jerusalem over the past two days.

The attacks took place after an Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank killed nine people.

The new measures also include depriving an attacker's family members of residency and social security rights.

The full cabinet is due to consider the measures on Sunday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had promised a "strong" and "swift" response ahead of the security cabinet meeting.

Israel's army also said it would be reinforcing troop numbers in the occupied West Bank.

"When civilians have guns, they can defend themselves," the controversial far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, told reporters outside a Jerusalem hospital.

The measures will revoke the rights to social security of "the families of terrorists that support terrorism", the security cabinet said.

The proposals are in step with proposals from Mr Netanyahu's far-right political allies, who allowed him to return to power last month.

The announcement came after Israeli police said a 13-year-old Palestinian boy was behind a shooting in Jerusalem's Silwan neighbourhood on Saturday that left an Israeli father and son seriously wounded.

An Israeli police force spokesperson previously said the assailant ambushed five people as they made their way to prayers, leaving two in a "critical condition". The 13-year-old was shot and injured by passers-by and is being held in hospital.

In a separate shooting on Friday at a synagogue in East Jerusalem, seven people were killed and at least three more injured as they gathered for prayers at the start of the Jewish Sabbath. The gunman was shot dead at the scene.

The man behind Friday's synagogue attack was identified by local media as a Palestinian from East Jerusalem.

Police have arrested 42 people in connection with that attack.

Israeli police commissioner Kobi Shabtai called it "one of the worst attacks we have encountered in recent years".

Palestinian militant groups praised the attack, but did not say one of their members was responsible.

Mr Netanyahu called for calm and urged citizens to allow security forces to carry out their tasks, while the military said additional troops would be deployed in the occupied West Bank.

"I call again on all Israelis - don't take the law into your hands," Mr Netanyahu said. He thanked several world leaders - including US President Joe Biden - for their support.

Tensions have been high since nine Palestinians - both militants and civilians - were killed during an Israeli military raid in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Thursday.

This was followed by rocket fire into Israel from Gaza, which Israel responded to with air strikes.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Reuters

Since the start of January, 30 Palestinians - both militants and civilians - have been killed in the West Bank.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suspended its security co-operation arrangements with Israel after Thursday's raid in Jenin.

Friday's synagogue shooting happened on Holocaust Memorial Day, which commemorates the six million Jews and other victims who were killed in the Holocaust by the Nazi regime in Germany.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the attack, saying that one of the victims was a Ukrainian woman.

"Terror must have no place in today's world - neither in Israel nor Ukraine," he said in a tweet.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly wrote on Twitter: "To attack worshippers at a synagogue on Holocaust Memorial Day, and during Shabbat, is horrific. We stand with our Israeli friends."

President Joe Biden talked to Mr Netanyahu and offered all "appropriate means of support", the White House said.

Shortly after the incident, Mr Netanyahu visited the site, as did Mr Ben-Gvir.

The controversial national security minister promised to bring safety back to Israel's streets, but there is rising anger that he has not yet done so, the BBC's Yolande Knell in Jerusalem said.

Israeli emergency service personnel close-off the site of a reported attack at a synagogue
Getty Images

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was "deeply worried about the current escalation of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory", a spokesperson said.

"This is the moment to exercise utmost restraint," UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

On Saturday, the European Union expressed alarm at heightened tensions and urged Israel to use lethal force only as a last resort.

"The European Union fully recognises Israel's legitimate security concerns - as evidenced by the latest terrorist attacks - but it has to be stressed that lethal force must only be used as a last resort when it is strictly unavoidable in order to protect life," said the EU's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell.

Israel has occupied East Jerusalem since the 1967 Middle East war and considers the entire city its capital, though this is not recognised by the vast majority of the international community.

Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the future capital of a hoped-for independent state.

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2023-01-29 05:10:15Z
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Sabtu, 28 Januari 2023

Petr Pavel: Ex-general beats populist rival in Czech election - BBC

Petr PavelFILIP SINGER/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Retired Nato general Petr Pavel has been elected as the new president of the Czech Republic, seeing off his populist challenger Andrej Babis.

The 61-year-old took 57.6% of the vote, initial results released by the state statistics office showed.

Mr Babis - who served as prime minister between 2017 and 2021 - conceded defeat in a speech to supporters soon after the results were announced.

The ex-general will replace Milos Zeman, whose second term ends in March.

The second-round runoff between Mr Babis and Mr Pavel was portrayed as a contest between populist oligarchy and liberal democracy.

The elections' results follow an ill-tempered campaign marred by alleged death threats and disinformation.

Czech presidential candidates Petr Pavel (L) and Andrej Babis attend a televised debate ahead of the election run-off
Reuters

Earlier this week Mr Pavel was forced to take to Twitter to deny rumours of his own death, circulated by a fake website and emails hosted by Russia's Yandex server.

The disinformation was condemned by Mr Babis, who a few days ago cancelled all remaining in-person campaign appearances over fears for his personal safety after receiving an anonymous death threat.

Speaking after the announcement of the results on Saturday, Mr Pavel said values such as truth, dignity, respect and humility had won.

"The vast majority of Czechs share these values, and it's time to return them to the castle and to politics," he added.

There were thunderous chants of "Pavel na Hrad" (Pavel to the Castle) - a deliberate echo of the chants of "Havel na Hrad" that filled the streets and squares of Czechoslovakia in November 1989.

Indeed Mr Pavel, a firm advocate of Czech membership of Nato and the EU, has often invoked the spirit of Vaclav Havel, the playwright, dissident and first president of the Czech Republic after the Velvet Revolution against communist rule.

And his victory will be seen as an affirmation his country is firmly rooted in the West.

In congratulating Mr Pavel, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she welcomed his "strong commitment to our European values".

Other world leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Kosovo's president Vjosa Osmani, have also taken to social media to congratulate the newly elected president.

Meanwhile, Slovakia's president Zuzana Caputova - a fellow liberal, pro-western politician - made a surprise appearance on stage alongside Mr Pavel within several hours of the results being announced.

Ms Caputova met Mr Pavel soon after the announcement of the preliminary results on Saturday
MARTIN DIVISEK/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

There was rapturous applause from Mr Pavel's supporters, many of them dressed in the flannel shirts that have become an unofficial symbol of his campaign.

Across town, at the offices of ANO - the political party created by Mr Babis - there were smiles but the disappointment was palpable.

"I wish you a world without Babis. Forget about Babis. Try to live without Babis," the former prime minister told reporters, in a barb at his many opponents on Twitter.

"Stop waking up in the morning with hatred towards Babis and falling asleep with hatred towards Babis," he said, after congratulating his opponent and denying he had run a negative campaign.

Mr Pavel has backed keeping the Czech Republic anchored in the European Union and Nato and has come out strongly in favour of further military aid for Ukraine to fight against Russia's invasion.

By contrast, Mr Babis was forced to backtrack earlier this week after he suggested that he would not live up to the country's obligations to defend a fellow Nato member if attacked.

"I want peace, I don't want war," Mr Babis said during a televised debate. "In no situation would I send our children or the children of our women to war."

In the Czech Republic, the role of president is a mostly ceremonial but still influential post. The presidents choose prime ministers and central bank bosses, as well as having a say in foreign policy.

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2023-01-28 17:13:06Z
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How tanks from Germany, US and UK could change the Ukraine war - BBC

An M1 Abram battle tankEPA

Is this the week when the war dramatically turned in Ukraine's favour? It was certainly a decisive moment, with a coalition of Western nations confirming they were finally willing to supply modern-made main battle tanks.

Germany said it would send Leopard 2 tanks and the US said it would send M1 Abrams tanks. Both the UK and Poland have already made concrete pledges, and other nations are expected to follow. Some commentators have described the move as a potential "gamechanger".

But is it really enough to win the war?

Ben Barry, senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (ISS), tells the BBC that Western tanks will make a difference. But the former British Army Brigadier also warns that the pledges made so far are unlikely to prove decisive.

In modern warfare, tanks have been a key element for offensive operations - to punch through enemy lines and retake territory.

Used effectively, they provide mobile firepower, protection, shock and surprise. Concentrated in numbers, they can dislocate an enemy's defences. But they also need the support of artillery to first weaken those defences and then the support of infantry to hold retaken ground.

History shows tanks alone don't win battles. The British first used hundreds of tanks at the battle of Cambrai in November 1917 - to end the deadlock of static trench warfare. Initially they made significant advances, but many tanks soon broke down and a German counter offensive turned British gains into losses.

Tanks can also be used in defence. In 1940 they were used by the retreating British and French armies at Arras to stall the Nazi invasion, allowing the subsequent evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk.

But Ukraine has made clear that it wants weapons not just to stall any potential Russian spring offensive, but to retake its own territory - to go on the attack.

How Ukraine might use tanks as attack spearheads

It would make little sense for Ukraine to disperse its additional tanks across a frontline of more than 1,000km (621 miles). To break through Russian defences, Ukraine will need to concentrate its forces - possibly over an area of between five and 20km (between three and 12 miles).

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former colonel in the British Army's Royal Tank Regiment, says numbers do matter for a breakthrough. An armoured brigade for a significant offensive operation would normally include at least 70 tanks. So more than 100 Western battle tanks could make a big difference, he says.

If Ukraine had more it could try to conduct simultaneous offensive operations in different places, as it did last year in the north and the south.

Then there's the additional support required for what the military call "combined arms manoeuvre".

The UK is not just sending Ukraine 14 Challenger tanks, but also 30 artillery self-propelled guns and armoured vehicles to carry and protect troops.

That new package of military support also includes mine breaching and bridge-laying vehicles. In other words, the essential elements needed for any offensive operation.

The US is also providing Ukraine with more than 100 Bradley and Stryker armoured vehicles, and Germany 40 of its Marder infantry fighting vehicle - as well as tanks.

Tanks are the tip of the spear, designed to move quickly over open ground. The Challenger 2, Leopard 2 and M1 Abrams are faster than most Russian-made tanks with speeds of more than 25mph (40km per hour) on rough terrain.

To take ground quickly, with any element of surprise, they would likely avoid urban areas where they would be more vulnerable to attack. Russia showed early on in this war, in its failed attempt to surround Kyiv, that a long column of armour on a road is an easy target.

Mr Barry, of ISS, says any spearhead attack would look for an enemy's weak points. But he also warns that Russia has spent the last few months reinforcing defensive positions with trenches and tank traps.

Western tanks are also about 20 tonnes heavier than their Russian counterparts. The additional armour gives better protection but it also means the tanks may be too heavy to cross some makeshift bridges. Russia and Ukraine have both blown bridges to slow down advances.

Surprise attacks at night

Mr de Bretton Gordon, who commanded a squadron of British Challenger tanks, says one of the big advantages of Western-made tanks is their ability to fight at night.

Night sights and thermal imaging camera are standard. Only Russia's more advanced tanks - like the T-90 - are fitted to fight at night. Attacks under the cover of darkness also add to the element of shock and surprise.

The greatest challenge for Ukraine will be logistics - maintaining the flow of fuel, ammunition and spare parts. Ukraine is not just having to maintain its old Soviet-era arsenal, it is also having to worry about an increasingly complex inventory of Western supplied weapons.

Britain's Challenger 2 tanks, for instance, do not use the same Nato standard ammunition as the Leopard and Abrams. The Challenger 2 is no longer in production and even the British Army has had to cannibalise some spare parts from its existing fleet.

Mr Barry says Ukrainian engineers may be familiar with repairing diesel engines - like those in the Leopard and Challenger. But he says the US-made Abrams runs on a more complicated gas turbine engine. It also consumes about twice the amount of fuel as a German-made Leopard.

A German Leopard tank during exercises
Getty Images

If Western pledges are firmed, Ukraine's armed forces could be boosted by more than 100 tanks. That would still fall well short of what Ukraine's overall military commander asked for.

Last October, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi said Ukraine needed an additional 300 tanks, 700 infantry fighting vehicles and 500 howitzers for his planned offensive this year. It might end up with just half of that.

The training required on the weapons will take time too - weeks if not months. And it's still not clear when all this equipment will arrive.

The US has indicated that its 31 M1 Abrams tanks might not be ready for months. Ukraine is also waiting for the West to respond to its repeated request for modern warplanes. An army attacking on the ground will need protection from the air.

Western officials had hoped that Ukraine may be able to mount an offensive as soon as this spring. They believe there is now a window of opportunity while Russia struggles to recruit and rebuild its battered forces, and to replenish its dwindling supplies of ammunition.

Ukraine has managed to prove the doubters wrong in the past - but it will still need more Western support if it is to achieve its goal of expelling Russian forces.

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2023-01-28 07:22:36Z
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Footage shows Memphis police brutally beating Tyre Nichols - BBC

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Footage of a traffic stop that has seen five ex-Memphis police officers charged with murder shows them kicking and punching a motorist for several minutes as he cries out for his mother.

Officers are seen beating Tyre Nichols, 29, in the videos from the 7 January arrest, with no signs of him resisting.

US President Joe Biden said he was "deeply pained" by the "horrific" clip.

Lawyers for Mr Nichols' family likened the assault to the 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King.

This article contains descriptions of violence that some people may find distressing

Police initially said Mr Nichols had been stopped on suspicion of reckless driving, which has not been substantiated. He died in hospital three days later, on 10 January.

Mr Nichols was black, as are all five officers charged in the case.

Memphis Police Department released four graphic videos of the traffic stop and its violent aftermath on Friday, totalling more than an hour of footage.

Mr Nichols taking a selfie
Reuters

The first clip shows officers pulling Mr Nichols out of his vehicle and shouting at him to get on the ground.

"I didn't do anything!" he says. Officers demand that he lie down flat.

"Get on the [expletive] ground!" one officer shouts, as another is heard saying: "Tase him!"

An officer shouts: "Put your hands behind your back before I break your [expletive]."

"You guys are really doing a lot right now," Mr Nichols says to the officers. "I'm just trying to go home."

Within seconds one of the officers fires a Taser at Mr Nichols, who leaps up and manages to run away.

A separate video, from a CCTV camera mounted on a utility pole, shows officers beating Mr Nichols after catching up with him in a residential area.

Two officers are seen holding Mr Nichols down while others take turns kicking and punching him and striking him with an expandable baton.

They drag him across the ground and prop him sitting up against a squad car. More than 20 minutes elapse until an ambulance is seen arriving.

The third and fourth videos show police body camera footage of the beating, with Mr Nichols being held down, pepper-sprayed and assaulted as he repeatedly shouts: "Mom!"

The videos also show officers milling about recounting details of the incident as Mr Nichols lies slumped against the car.

Some of them claim Mr Nichols "swung" at them or reached for their guns, though neither allegation is clear from the released video.

Officers can also be heard saying that nothing was found in his car.

Mr Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells, has said her son was only about 230ft (70m) from home when Memphis police officers "murdered him".

Representatives of the family have described Mr Nichols as the father of a four-year-old son and a keen skateboarder who had recently enrolled in a photography class. He worked for the FedEx parcel delivery firm.

One of the lawyers, Antonio Romanucci, said: "This young man, by definition of the law in this state, was terrorised."

From left: Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills, Jr, Emmitt Martin III, Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean
MPD

The five officers - Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr, Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith - were fired last week.

They were taken into custody on Thursday and each faces charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.

Four of the five posted bail and were released from custody by Friday morning, according to jail records.

Lawyers for Mr Martin and Mr Mills have said their clients will plead not guilty.

Memphis Police Director Cerelyn Davis described the five officers' actions as "heinous, reckless and inhumane".

With protests anticipated, she told US media that local officials had decided to release the video on Friday evening so that schoolchildren and commuters would have time to get home.

Dozens of protesters shut down a road bridge in the Memphis area on Friday night, while small-scale demonstrations were held in other US cities, including New York and Washington DC.

One protester at the Memphis rally, 21-year-old Kyrion, told the BBC he had dreamed as a child of joining the city's police force, but now that dream was shattered."It's just wicked, the system is forever going to be wicked," he said. "Which is why I'm out here today, as of right now I can't count on [police] to protect me.

"How do I know the man is not going to put his knee into my neck, or hold me down and beat me into a pulp?"

After the videos were released, Shelby County Sheriff's Office said two of its deputies had also been relieved from duty pending an investigation into their conduct.

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2023-01-28 04:23:24Z
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