Blow by sickening blow: video of the man beaten to death by police as he pleaded for his mother

HORRIFYING video footage showing police officers beating an unarmed black motorist to death has caused protests across America and led to President Biden calling for police reforms.

Nearly an hour of footage – taken from three separate police body cameras and a CCTV camera – was released late Friday night and showed Memphis police officers as they kicked, punched and peppersprayed Tyre Nichols just 80 yards from his home on January 7.

One officer repeatedly struck Mr Nichols with a metal baton for more than three minutes.

It took more than 20 minutes after he was beaten before any medical attention was provided.

Mr Nichols, 29, a father of one who worked for FedEx and lived at home with his mother and stepfather, was heard screaming ‘Mom!’ repeatedly as he pleaded

‘He was used as a punch bag – he did nothing’

with officers saying: ‘I just want to go home.’

Officers propped his semi-conscious body up against a police car and were filmed fist-bumping, smoking cigarettes and rinsing pepper spray from their eyes as Mr Nichols lay dying.

One officer is heard muttering: ‘Ah, you motherf ***** made me spray myself.’

Mr Nichols never regained consciousness and died in hospital three days later from ‘blunt force trauma’ to the head and bleeding on the brain.

Last night, President Biden condemned his killing as ‘outrageous’. In a call to Mr Nichols’ mother RowVaughn Wells and stepfather Rodney Wells, the President called for ‘a swift, full and transparent investigation’ saying he would promote legislation to mandate ‘stricter use of force standards and accountability provisions for federal law enforcement’.

Five black Memphis police officers – Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills and Justin Smith, who were fired earlier this week – have been charged with multiple counts including second-degree murder and aggravated assault and kidnapping charges.

Two paramedics and two sheriff department officers were suspended after the video became public.

Last night, a Memphis police spokesperson said he expected further charges to be brought.

Protests were expected last night in cities across the US.

In Memphis hundreds of protesters shut down a major motorway into the city in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Mr Nichols’ mother pleaded for non-violent protests saying: ‘I don’t want any other family to go through the pain of losing a child.’

The brutality of the footage combined with Mr Nichols’ compliance with officers has fuelled the outrage.

Family lawyer Ben Crump compared the actions of the black officers to ‘gang violence’ and ‘a terrorist act’.

He said: ‘It doesn’t matter what colour your skin is, police brutality is police brutality. We must hold these thugs accountable.’

At the start of the footage Mr Nichols is shown getting out of his car after being pulled over for an unknown traffic violation.

As an officer yells: “Get the f*** out of the car’, he calmly replies: ‘I didn’t do anything.’

Another officer from the ‘elite’ Scorpion Unit – set up by Memphis Police to patrol high-crime areas – shouts: ‘Bitch, put your hands behind your back before I… I’m going to knock your a** the f*** out.’

Nichols replies: ‘I’m just trying to go home.’

He briefly stands up and tries to run away before being Tasered and falling to the ground where he is kicked, punched and peppersprayed for more than 20 minutes.

One of the officers watching the assault says: ‘I hope they stomp his a**. I hope they stomp his a**.’

Nichols, a keen skateboarder and father to a four-year-old son, was left untreated for nearly half an hour despite paramedics arriving on the scene ten minutes after the beating.

A spokesman for his family said: ‘He was used as a punch bag. He did nothing.’

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