Mr Nichols died in hospital three days after being pulled over for alleged reckless driving. He was pepper sprayed, kicked and punched by five officers who have since lost their jobs and been charged with his murder.
Nichols whose death earlier this month has led to second-degree murder charges against five officers, died three days after what his family and authorities described as a brutal encounter that stemmed from a traffic stop.
the contents of the video prove what many had speculated already happened: those cops abused their use of force beyond measure.
The four videoswere taken from police body cameras and street surveillance cameras.
They show officers first removing Nichols from a vehicle after pulling him over, an initial struggle when Nichols breaks loose and runs away from the officers, and then disturbing images of Nichols being restrained and beaten by five officers at a suburban intersection.
Reacting after body camera and other video was released Friday evening, NYPD Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell said she and her department were outraged.
“The disgraceful actions depicted in the released video are an unequivocal violation of our oath to protect those we serve, and a failure of basic human decency,”
Sewell said in a statement.
The unsettling footage will likely generate a wave of national outrage and add to calls for police reform. Mostly peaceful protests were already taking place in cities across the country Friday night.
The videos show different angles of Nichols being pepper sprayed, kicked in the head while being restrained, punched and struck multiple times with a baton.
In total, about 10 people stand by, with no one offering to help Mr Nichols, who is in visible distress.
Some of the last few minutes of video are blurred out and redacted – officials had said that some parts would be redacted according to the state’s public records laws.
