Punched, kicked and tasered: Timeline of violent arrest of Tyre Nichols
Tyre Nichols was punched, kicked and tasered, beaten with a baton and had pepper spray used on him during a violent arrest by police in Memphis, video footage shows.
The father-of-one died three days after the beating he received on 7 January and five officers have been charged with second-degree murder.
Police initially said Mr Nichols had been stopped for reckless driving and that a “confrontation” occurred in an effort to detain him.
However Memphis police chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said a review of the incident could not “substantiate” the reckless driving claim.
Here is a timeline of the crucial moments from the footage – released by police – that recorded events from 8.24pm to 9pm.
8:24pm
This is the first sight of Mr Nichols’ car, already stopped at a junction where two officers order him to get out of his vehicle.
One of the officers opens the driver’s door and drags the 29-year-old out.
Mr Nichols can be heard telling them: “Damn, I didn’t do anything.”
8.25pm
As he is forced to the ground and sworn at, Mr Nicols can be heard trying to pacify the police saying: “All right, all right.”
One of the officers tells him: “I’m going to tase your ass.”
Mr Nichols says: “All right, I’m on the ground… Stop, stop… You guys are really doing a lot right now. I’m just trying to go home… Stop. I’m not doing anything.”
He then breaks free and runs away in the direction of his mother’s house.
An officer fires his Taser and police chase after him.
8.26pm to 8.31pm
There is no video of Mr Nichols during this time, when apparently two officers catch and detain Mr Nichols.
8:31pm
Mr Nichols is seen on the ground being subdued by two officers, less than half a mile from where the traffic stop happened.
8:33pm
A third officer arrives on the scene.
One of them says: “Do you want to get sprayed again?”
Two officers can then be seen punching and slapping Mr Nichols as he lies on the ground trying to protect his head from the blows and screaming: “Mom. Mom.”
The newly arrived officer tells his colleagues to “watch out” before spraying Mr Nichols, who again cried out: “Mom. Mom.”
His mother’s house is just a short distance away.
An officer then orders Mr Nichols to “give me your hands.”
A fourth policeman arrives on the scene.
Mr Nichols is then sprayed again which apparently also hits another officer, who can be heard swearing.
8.34pm
One of the officers kicks Mr Nichols in the face twice.
The officer who had stepped away returns and says, “I’m going to baton the f*** out of you” raising his stick.
8.35pm
The officer with the baton hits Mr Nichols with it three times as other officers begin to stand him up.
One officer punches Mr Nichols at least five times in the head while two others hold him up.
He falls to the ground and officers hold him down.
8.36pm
A fifth officer arrives on scene and kicks Mr Nichols, before another officer kicks him.
A sixth and seventh officer arrive who appear to observe the scene. One of them makes a call on his radio.
8.37pm
Officers step back with Mr Nichols now in handcuffs.
8:38pm
Mr Nichols is dragged across the ground and propped sitting up against a patrol car.
8.40pm
Officers stand around discussing the incident, laughing and joking.
One complains about having hurt his leg.
8.41pm
Mr Nichols slumps to his right to the ground.
“Hey, sit up, bro,” one officer says. Mr Nichols is grabbed by the arm and pulled back into a sitting position.
Two emergency medical staff arrive but is unclear what treatment if any is given.
8.41pm to 8.55pm
Mr Nichols remains on the ground as officers mill around.
One leans down and tells him: “You can’t go nowhere.”
8.55pm to 9pm
Emergency workers appear to begin tending to Mr Nichols again as he is propped up against the police car.
9pm
A stretcher is wheeled into the area and two minutes later an ambulance arrives.
9.18pm
Mr Nichols complains of difficulty breathing and is taken to hospital.
A post-mortem examination later reveals he “suffered excessive bleeding caused by a severe beating”.
A man has pleaded guilty to murdering four University of Idaho students in November 2022.
Bryan Kohberger, a 30-year-old former criminal justice student, was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania weeks after the killings.
He was accused of sneaking into the rented home in Moscow, Idaho, which is not far from the university campus, and attacking Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves.
Kohberger previously pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and burglary.
It comes after he agreed to a plea deal, just weeks before his trial was set to begin, in a bid to avoid the death penalty.
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It is certainly big – 940 pages long – but on the question of beauty, Congress is divided.
Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” has sparked ugly debate – both for its ambitious scope and for the political manoeuvring that’s gone on around it.
Elon Musk branded it “political suicide” for Republicans and threatened to fund challenges against those who back it in next year’s midterm elections.
But the president hit back, suggesting he would consider cutting Musk’s lucrative government contracts or even deporting him back to South Africa.
The “big, beautiful bill”, or HR 1 to give the proposed legislation its proper title, is Mr Trump’s signature spending and tax policy.
It extends tax cuts he secured in 2017 and bankrolls his second-term agenda in the White House.
File pic: Reuters
Here is a summary of the key points:
• Permanent tax cuts: Extending relief from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
• Small business support: Doubling the small business expensing limit to $2.5m (£1.8m) to help businesses expand and hire staff
• Child tax credit: Expanding the child tax credit and making it permanent, benefiting 40 million families
• Making housing affordable: Expanding the low-income housing tax credit to kickstart construction of affordable homes
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• Made-in-America incentives: Providing tax breaks and incentives for domestic manufacturing to promote US industry
• Healthcare and social welfare: Implementing restrictions on Medicaid, which provides healthcare for millions of Americans, and reducing funding for certain healthcare and nutrition programmes.
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Musk, Mr Trump’s former ally and the man who established the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), claimed the bill “raises the debt ceiling by $5trn, the biggest increase in history.”
“DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon,” was President Trump’s response.
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Republican Senator Thom Tillis voted against the bill and, following criticism from the president, announced he would not seek re-election in North Carolina.
He said he couldn’t support it due to his concerns about the impact cuts to Medicaid would have on people in his state.
Democrats in the Senate forced a full reading of all 940 pages and then a vote-a-rama, a series of marathon voting sessions.
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Legislatively, the progress of the bill has been a case study in the complexities of American law-making.
Strategically, it represents a mammoth effort to consolidate the president’s policy agenda and secure his legacy.
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For the people of Gaza, for the Israeli hostages and their families – this could be the moment it ends. But we have been here before, so many times.
The key question – will Hamas accept what Israel has agreed to: a 60-day ceasefire?
At the weekend, a source at the heart of the negotiations told me: “Both Hamas and Israel are refusing to budge from their position – Hamas wants the ceasefire to last until a permanent agreement is reached.
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We don’t know the details and conditions attached to Israel’s proposals.
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We just don’t know the answers to any of these questions, except one.
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We do know why Israel wants a 60-day ceasefire, not a permanent one. It’s all about domestic politics.
If Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were to agree now to a permanent ceasefire, the extreme right-wingers in his coalition would collapse his government.
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