MEMPHIS, Tenn — "Hard to watch" is how many would describe the body camera video that shows five Memphis police officers assaulting 29-year-old Tyre Nichols. Because of this, many have chosen to not watch the graphic footage at all.
One Memphis congregation came together for a different kind of Sunday conversation — one that can help them all move forward from the tragic death of Tyre Nichols.
"There are stages of grief," Pastor Jerry Taylor of Greater Mt. Moriah Baptist Church said. "The first stage as we continue to go forward is communication."
While the saying "time heals all wounds" can be helpful to some, wounds as fresh as what Memphis faces seem to require communication.
"Another thing that you have to remember is that if you can't talk about it, you can't get past it," Taylor said, speaking to about 40 people at the church's community breakfast.
When asked how many people had seen the body camera video from Memphis Police, released Friday night, nearly all raised their hand. Church members say the past couple days have been hard as they process what they saw.
"It was really in our face, with the cameras rolling," Kenneth Michael Hill said. "That was just so horrific."
It's a feeling not uncommon across the city. The emotions may be raw, but Taylor says moving forward can't be something that happens alone.
"Sooner or later, you'll get yourself to a place where when you're strong enough, then you can start to build on that," he said. "You can communicate and you can talk about and then we can start the healing process."
While Sunday's conversation focused on processing what happened, there's another goal on Taylor's mind — discussions like this could open to the door to avoiding what happened on Jan. 7 again.
"We will look at the measures on what it will take to not repeat it," Taylor said. "Being able to connect with them so we can send out the same message so we can unify, together, and that'll help us go forward."
For more information on how to mentally process the body camera video, if you choose to view it, click here.