NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- New York City was preparing Friday for protests as officials in Memphis got ready to release video said to show the brutal arrest that led to the death of Tyre Nichols, a Black man whose killing prompted murder charges against five police officers.
The Memphis officers were charged Thursday with murder and other crimes in the killing of Nichols, a 29-year-old father and FedEx worker who died three days after a Jan. 7 traffic stop.
Nichols' family members and their lawyers said the footage shows the officers, who are also Black, savagely beating Nichols for three minutes in an assault the legal team likened to the infamous 1991 police beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles.
Memphis and cities across the nation were getting ready Friday for potential unrest after the video’s release, which is expected to happen after 7 p.m. ET.
“We continue to monitor the situation in Memphis,” the NYPD said in a statement to 1010 WINS.
“The NYPD continues to work around the clock to keep New Yorkers safe,” the statement continued. “The Department has examined, adapted and adjusted our response to protests and is prepared to protect the Constitutional right to peaceful protest, and works to ensure public safety for every New Yorker exercising their First Amendment rights.”
Taking questions from reporters Friday at an unrelated press conference, Mayor Eric Adams said he had a briefing with NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell on Friday morning about the release of the video and that another briefing was planned for the afternoon.
Adams, a former NYPD officer who has recounted his own experience with police brutality as a teenager, said the story of Nichols has “impacted me professionally and personally.”
“To see what is reported—that five African American officers are involved in this—just really hurt me personally, because it was always my belief that diversifying our departments with different ethnic groups would allow us to have a level of policing that we all deserve,” the mayor said, adding that it “appears these officers tarnished much of the work many of us have hoped to accomplish.”
Adams said he hadn’t seen the video of Nichols’ arrest but that he does plan to watch it when it’s released.
“I think the Memphis police chief responded swiftly, and I believe that New Yorkers should have the right to peacefully voice their concern if the video is what we anticipate it to be,” the mayor said.
“The NYPD is the best at responding to any form of protest,” he added. “The police have been sitting down with the team and putting the proper strategies in place to make sure people can peacefully voice their concerns.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who was with Adams at the press conference, urged New Yorkers to honor the wishes of Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells, who has pleaded for peaceful protest as her “grief-stricken” family deals with their loss and the “horrific” nature of the arrest video, which they have viewed.
“I don’t want us burning up our city, tearing up the streets, because that’s not what my son stood for,” Wells said Thursday.
“If you’re going to protest,” Hochul said, “please do so peacefully in her son’s memory.”
Adams reportedly spoke with Rev. Al Sharpton, whose National Action Network is headquartered in Harlem, on Thursday night.
Memphis Police Director Cerelyn Davis described the officers' actions as “heinous, reckless and inhumane,” and said Friday that her department has been unable to substantiate the reckless driving allegation that prompted the stop.
“As far as I know today, I do believe that the stop itself was very questionable,” she told Good Morning America.
Davis told GMA that she and other local officials decided it would be best to release the video later in the day Friday after schools have let out and people are home from work, given that protests are expected to erupt.
As a precaution, Memphis area schools canceled all after-class activities and postponed a school event scheduled for Saturday morning. Other early closures include the Memphis power company's community offices and the University of Memphis.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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