We're following breaking news in the beating
death of Sacramento native Tyree Nichols.
Just moments ago, the city of Memphis
released new video that shows
several angles of the violent arrest.
It comes less than 24 hours after five
officers were charged and arrested
for second degree murder in the case.
ABC 10 has had several discussions
leading up to this video release and
how we treat every piece of it, photos,
video and sound on the confrontation
that led up to Tyrese death.
And we do have a warning.
Tonight this is graphic video
and it is very disturbing.
29 year old Tyree Nichols
grew up in Sacramento.
Yeah, he was an artist,
photographer and enjoyed
skateboarding around the city.
He touched the lives of so many people.
And so we do have team coverage tonight,
but we want to start with
ABC 10s Becca habegger.
I know you just saw the video and
you're bringing it all down for us.
Yeah, Chris and Laura, you know,
we were all in that news conference
room watching the beginnings of what
is essentially an hour long video.
The Memphis Police Department published
the video of the January 7th traffic
stop just about an hour ago now.
The full video is a little over an hour long.
It stretches across 4 videos from various
body camera and different camera angles,
but we've just begun to start
watching all of it.
Now what we're going to show you
is this still frame from the video.
We are not yet showing actual video
because we want to be judicious and
what we show and how we show it.
Our goal is to strike an appropriate
balance between giving context to
what happened and understanding.
That this is very graphic video that
some may choose not to watch in its
entirety for a variety of reasons.
What you're seeing here is a still
image from the second of four videos.
You see Nichols up against one
of the squad cards there.
This is just after police officers,
a group of them were seen repeatedly
hitting him, kicking him,
using a baton to strike him,
and then they put him over and pushed him
against that squad car where he is sitting.
We see several minutes passed with
him in that position and the police
officers are milling around the area.
We don't want to give any additional
context if we don't yet have it.
But we've been watching this in real time
and we just walked out of The Newsroom,
conference room where we are watching this.
So this is sort of journalism and
context giving unfolding in real time.
You know,
one important thing that we want to
mention is we've been speaking all day,
not only as journalists but
with leaders in The Newsroom,
community,
leaders about how to most responsibly
and sensitively.
Tell this story whether to show the video
and if we do how much of it do we show?
You know,
we know people who want to watch
the full video can find it online
and we do have it at abc10.com.
But our goal is journalists is to give
as much context as possible while
limiting the harm we're causing by
showing something so hard to watch.
And you don't.
Chris and Laura,
these community leaders we talked with,
they said this brings up the trauma
especially for members of the
black community and the here in
Sacramento they they referenced,
you know, the the killing of Stephan.
Clark at the hands of Sacramento
police officers, of course,
the 2020 killing of Brianna Taylor
and George Floyd and so many others.
So they say that watching this video
for so many members of the community
is a trauma and that's why we want
to be so careful in what we present.
We know those officers in the Stephon
Clark case were never charged with a crime.
The Clark family had asked that they
at least be charged. In this case,
those officers have been charged.
And not only that,
EMT workers have been charged as well.
In this case.
I know again you've got 4 hours of
video that you've got to try to get through.
Rebecca, to try and bring us
back some perspective.
So we thank you for this initial
review of that video that
has just come in moments ago.
Yeah, thank you, Becca, for that.
And we're gonna have more information
as well on our website, abc10.com.
Keep in mind, again, Tyree
Nichols was a Sacramento native.
He recently moved to Memphis in 2020.
That's right. And that's why our
Devin Truby had a conversation
with local stakeholders on what
this means for Sacramento.
Earlier today, I was able to speak with
former Sacramento Police chief Daniel
Hahn and community activist Barry Axius.
Both are expecting a reaction from
the Sacramento community and that
this will be an instrument of change.
The Nichols family calling for peace.
But there is expected to be
a reaction in Sacramento.
I think it'll be mixed.
All families are doing the right
thing to call cause for peace.
There's a lot of people right now,
currently just here in Sacramento
that haven't got any bit of comfort.
Or resolve in their issues.
Former Sacramento Police chief
Daniel Hahn is expecting protests.
People are angry.
And at the root of that is
trust in law enforcement and
other governmental entities.
And so protests has changed
this country in more ways
than one throughout history.
Do you think this happened so quickly and
has so much attention because these five
officers are black?
Yeah, they're expendable.
They have now truly realized
that they don't believe blue.
They are black.
Chief Han believes the horrific nature
of this incident is the main driver,
but race cannot be overlooked.
But race is a big issue in this country
and so five African American officers
sounds like assaulting an African American
person brings up all sorts of emotions.
In a press conference Friday morning,
attorney Ben Crump says the swift
response and action against the officer
should be the new quote blueprint
for how incidents are handled.
We asked how realistic seen a change
like that could be in Sacramento.
But any of these incidents are
none of them are the same.
So to say you're going to do the exact same
thing on each incident is not realistic.
The same energy and the swiftness
of action to fire and also.
Relieve them of their duties without pay.
We want to see that with other officers
there are white when this thing happens.
And while there is acknowledgement
that it's not easy to be in law
enforcement and they make split second
decisions, this case is not that.
This doesn't sound like it was a
split second decision where I have
to decide whether that person is
trying to kill me or not with a gun.
This is a situation where people
physically fought with somebody
to the point that they died.
You said I want to work.
As a law enforcement officer,
I never said I wanted to be black.
I just came black.
We have made both these interviews.
Tyree had a passion for photography and
these images you see right here are
from his website and most of the photos
he took are in Memphis showing his
passion for capturing beauty, sunrise,
sunset and moments of his time in Memphis.
And we do have video of Tyree,
it shows him skating.
Actually here in Sacramento
there is a vigil at the skate
park at Regency Park in Natomas
scheduled for Monday of next week.
And this all comes,
as many are already gathering,
on the streets here in
downtown Sacramento right now,
outraged by this brutal and deadly beating.
And these protesters marched from
City Hall to the state's capitol,
demanding action and justice.
ABC 10s Alicia Machado joins
us live in downtown right now.
A lot going on behind you, Alicia.
Tell us exactly what's going on.
Good evening Laura and Chris.
Ralliers are just wrapping up after
marching through the streets of Sacramento,
even shutting down 10th St.
for about 20 minutes as they
marched calling for accountability
and justice in Tyreese case.
You can see a few of them are
actually left here tonight.
About two dozen people marching through
the streets in of Sacramento saying they
are standing in solidarity with Tyree.
They say this is a movement, not a moment.
Saying that this needs to continue.
The calls for action in the days to come.
We saw them as they were marching through
the streets shouting chants like no justice,
no peace, black lives matter.
A ralliers say this March is symbolic.
They are standing with the
family asking for justice.
They want this taken further.
They want a conviction.
They want these officers to face
stricter punishments for this.
Even Stephanite Clark, the brother of.
Stephan Clark,
who was shot and killed by
Sacramento police back in 2018,
is out here marching, calling for justice.
March actually marks A5 year since
he was shot and killed by police.
They plan to be out here again for that,
but we will continue to cover this and
bring you live updates throughout the night.
Now Alicia of our audience
members might have heard
or seen online that Tyrese mom had
expressed that she would like any
protests to please remain peaceful.
We'll check in with you again.
Alicia, thank you.
Now, processing emotions in times like
these are difficult for all of us,
and especially for those in the
black community who may have
experienced similar trauma.
Experts we've spoken with say the best
thing that you can do to keep yourself
healthy is to find help if you need it,
even if it's just talking
things out with a loved one.
On your screen are just a few,
just a few of the local resources
available that specialize in counseling
members of the black community.
If you need help, reach out.
Do not hesitate. Don't wait.
We have.
More options listed on
abc10.com/links. Meanwhile, we do
have some more breaking news tonight,
this time in Tracy. An officer
has shot a person in the area
of Mosswood and foxtail way.
We want to take a live look
now at Tracy if we can here.
We do know for right now
that a road is blocked off
the heavy police presence.
We repeat that again.
We don't have the live shot,
but a road is blocked.
There is a heavy police presence.
We have learned a man was rushed
to the hospital, Chris,
and we don't know the extent
of his injuries right now
though we can tell you though that
our Devin Truby is on her way there.
To the scene as we speak,
and we'll have more information for
you tonight online and of course
tonight on the news at 6:00 o'clock.
We also have everything that we
know so far about this story
on our website, abc10.com.