The officers, who were also arrested Thursday and sent to the Shelby County Jail, were all released on bail. Lawyers for the officers said they could not see the video beforehand. But they urged the community to avoid hasty judgment. Blake Ballin, representing Mr Mills, acknowledged that the video’s content was likely painful to the community, but this video would not necessarily give a comprehensive account of what happened. “I don’t know from how many angles, I don’t know the perspective,” he said. “There is always more to tell.”
City officials decided to wait until 6 p.m. to release the video because schools and most downtown businesses would be closed by then.
“Very, very few people will be at the work,” said Frank Colvett Jr., a councilman from the east side of town who was not involved in this planning. “Everyone will have had plenty of time to get home from school and from their work and just stay at home.”
Michalyn Easter-Thomas, a Memphis City Councilwoman, said all city council members had an opportunity to view the video before it was released. But she was among those who chose not to see it. Black Lives Matter activists from Memphis said they would avoid it.
Ms Wells, Mr Nichols’ mother, said she could not finish it. “I heard it’s very awful, very awful,” she said. “And any of you who have children, please don’t let them see it.”
Ms Easter-Thomas felt she “didn’t need to see it to know what was done,” she said. But she did not discourage others. “For some,” she said, “it will help them see the truth.”
Mr Colvett said one of his main conclusions after watching part of the video was the officers’ character: “I no longer consider them Memphians.”
Jessica Jaglois, Jesus Jiménez, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Mark Walker contributed reports from Memphis. Reporting was also provided by Richard Fausset, Eliza Fawcett, Jacey Fortin, Mitch Smith and Remy Tumin.
Comments are closed.