A grand jury indicted five former police officers with murder and other charges related to Tire Nichols’ death.
America president joe biden Calls for any peaceful protests following Thursday’s allegations.
Nichols, 29, died in hospital three days later Confrontation during traffic stop in Memphis, USA, TennesseeJanuary 7th.
The father of one of the men was arrested after being pulled over for reckless driving and then allegedly beaten by officers for three minutes, police said.
Five black officers involved in the arrest were fired after a police investigation found that they used excessive force or failed to intervene and help him.
Officials are expected to release body camera footage of the incident Friday night.
“We are here today because of a tragedy that hurts one family deeply, but hurts all of us,” District Attorney Steve Mulroy said at a news conference.
The five officers were charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping and officer misconduct, he added.
The Memphis Police Department identified them as Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr and Justin Smith, all black and between the ages of 24 and 32.
Each officer served in the department for about two and a half to five years and was fired last Saturday.
Meanwhile, two Memphis Fire Department employees involved in the response have also been relieved of duty while the investigation is underway, a department spokesman said earlier this week.
“Anger is understandable, but violence is absolutely unacceptable,” President Biden said in a statement.
“Till’s death is a painful reminder that we must do more to ensure our criminal justice system lives up to our commitment to fair and impartial justice, equal treatment and the dignity of all people.”
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said Wednesday that other officers are still under investigation for police violations.
In a video shared on YouTube, she asked for calm as body camera footage was made public.
“I hope you feel what the Nichols family felt. I hope you are outraged by the disregard for basic human rights,” she said.
“I want our citizens to exercise their First Amendment right to protest, to demand action and outcomes, but we need to make sure our communities are safe in the process.”
Several recent incidents of police brutality against black people in the United States have sparked public outrage and calls for policing reform.
The Nichols family watched the police footage Monday with their attorney, Ben Crump, who compared the beating to the 1991 attack on Rodney King by Los Angeles police, which was recorded And sparked protests and police reform.
“He was defenseless the entire time. To those police officers, he was a human piñata,” Mr. Crump’s co-counsel, Antonio Romanucci, told reporters.
Mr Crump said the last words Nichols heard on the video were him calling out to his mother three times.