MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The family of Tyre Nichols will meet with the City of Memphis to view video footage of the confrontation that the 29-year-old had with Memphis officers before he ended up in the hospital and died three days later, according to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland.
As part of the mayor's weekly update to the city, Strickland said that a meeting is being arranged with the Nichols family "early next week."
Strickland said that the City of Memphis spoke with attorney Ben Crump, whom the Nichols family has retained.
Late Friday afternoon, Crump announced a news conference Monday, Jan. 23, which he said will come after the family views the footage of the confrontation.
Crump has demanded that the city release of all surveillance and body camera video of the confrontation that Tyre Nichols had with officers.
Late Friday afternoon, the City of Memphis tweeted out a statement from Jan. 17 from Shelby County District Attorney’s Office, which said, "Our office is committed to transparency and understands the reasonable request from the public to view the video footage. However, we must ensure we abide by applicable laws and ethical rules so that we do not jeopardize an ongoing investigation or prosecution. We’re working with the appropriate agencies to determine how quickly we can release the video, and will do so as soon as we can. We’ll be sure to update the public throughout this process."
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice released a press release announcing that it has opened a civil rights investigation into Nichols’ death, describing Nichols' encounter with Memphis police as an incident where officers “used force during his arrest.”
Nichols’ family believes he was the victim of police brutality and the public outcry to release video of the incident is growing louder across the country.
The case has drawn the attention of the NAACP, who released a statement on Jan. 11 that they "will keep close watch of this matter" along with Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy.
The criminal investigation is the responsibility of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, who said that the investigation began per the request of Mulroy.
"I want to make sure we don't [release information] prematurely in a way that would compromise the ongoing investigation,” D.A. Mulroy said. “I'm asking the public to be patient. I'm committed to transparency and we are going to try to release what information we can, as soon as we can."
Mayor Strickland said the city will be cooperating completely with the civil rights investigation, which will be a coordinated effort involving the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI and the DOJ Civil Rights Division.
ABC24 reached out to TBI regarding the status of its investigation. A public information officer said there is no current timetable for how long the investigation might last.
MPD said the specific events of the incident as follows: Around 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 7, Memphis police attempted to make a traffic stop for reckless driving in the area of Raines Road and Ross Road. MPD then said that a confrontation occurred in the area of Raines Road and Ross Road when officers approached the driver of the vehicle — Nichols.
Nichols ran away and then a second confrontation took place, according to MPD.
Nichols told officers he was short of breath before being transported to St. Francis hospital in critical condition, according to MPD.
The TBI said that Nichols died Jan. 10.
