The young man died three days after being beaten by the agents; he was pulled over for an alleged traffic violation
Five former police officers from the town of Memphis (Tennessee) are in custody and face various criminal charges for having beaten to death a young African-American man who was arrested for an alleged traffic violation, according to official records consulted by a source.
The defendants, all African-American, were expelled from the police force last week after authorities determined that they were directly responsible for the death of 29-year-old Tire Nichols, who died three days later from injuries resulting from the beating.
The prosecutor in charge of the case is expected to appear in a few hours to announce the charges, including second-degree murder, according to CNN.
Tennessee law punishes this crime with up to 60 years in jail.
A video of the arrest, which has already been shown to the victim’s parents, will be made public this week or next.
The Memphis police chief has asked citizens to demonstrate peacefully, in anticipation of the public response to the video.
According to the lawyer representing the victim’s family, the images show the five agents attacking the young man with electric shocks and pepper spray. The beating lasted about three minutes.