Four of the five officers charged with the murder of Tyre Nichols have been released on bail. Mr Nichols, 27, died three days after a confrontation with officers in a traffic stop in January. Each of the now-fired police officers face charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.
Desmond Mills and Justin Smith each posted their $250,000 bond and were released Thursday evening.
Emmitt Martin and Tadarrius Bean were released by 4am on Friday. Demetrius Haley has not paid his $350k bond and remains in jail.
It comes ahead of the body camera footage of the traffic stop being released to the public tonight.
In her first interview since the officers were charged with murder on Thursday, police chief Cerelyn Davis told CNN she was “outraged” after seeing the “alarming” video of the traffic stop.
The chief said there appeared to be no legitimate reason for the traffic stop, and added she did not see any of the five officers intervene to stop excessive force by their fellow officers.
She suggested the cops appeared to be in a state of “groupthink” as they confronted Nichols and became violent.
“I was in law enforcement during the Rodney King incident and it’s very much aligned with that type of behaviour … sort of groupthink,” Davis alleged.
“I would say it’s about the same if not worse.”
King barely survived on March 3, 1991, when he was beaten by officers from Los Angeles police department during an arrest after a car chase, with the violence caught on tape.
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Second-degree murder is defined in Tennessee as a “knowing killing of another” and is considered a Class A felony punishable by between 15 to 60 years in prison.
At least two of the officers, including Martin and Mills, are expected to plead “not guilty”, according to their lawyers.
“No one out there that night intended for Tyre Nichols to die,” Martin’s lawyer, William Massey said.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the Nichols’ family, has reviewed the body camera footage and called it “appalling”.
“It is deplorable. It is heinous. It is violent,” Crump added on Monday.
The footage is expected to be released around 7pm ET (12am GMT) tonight.
