Up to 20 hours of footage capturing the events surrounding the deadly police beating of Tyre Nichols has yet to be released, a Shelby County prosecutor said on Wednesday (February 1).
The unreleased police footage surrounding the January 7 traffic stop that led to Nichols' death includes audio of exchanges after Memphis police officers brutally beat him and after an ambulance took him to the hospital, Shelby County prosecutor Steven Mulroy told CNN.
News of the unreleased footage comes after the city released body camera and surveillance video last week of what Mulroy described as “the relevant parts” of the initial traffic stop and subsequent beating. The released footage shows officers punching, hitting, and kicking Nichols in the face during the stop, which contradicts what law enforcement officials said in an initial police report filed after the beating, per CNN.
Erica Williams, a spokesperson for Mulroy, said his office is considering filing more charges of "false reporting" as the initial police report suggested that Nichols was violent and failed to mention that officers punched and kicked him.
“The incident report that has gone public does not match up on all fours with what one sees when one looks at the video that’s already been released,” Mulroy said Wednesday.
So far, five officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith — have been fired and charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of official misconduct, and official oppression.
A sixth officer, Preston Hemphill, was "relieved of duty" last week for his involvement in the traffic stop that led to Nichols' January 10 death, along with a seventh officer, who remains unnamed. Three Memphis EMTs have also been fired after failing to properly respond and administer patient care to Nichols following the beating, the Memphis Fire Department said earlier this week.
Mulroy said it is up to the city of Memphis and the police department to decide when the up to 20 hours of unseen footage will be released to the public.
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