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Speaker 1: It's my hometown, Memphis, Tennessee, and the world is watching.

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Speaker 1: Many people are asking questions, why did this have to happen.

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Speaker 1: Memphis to release the Tyree's Nichols arrest video at six

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Speaker 1: o'clock Central seven Eastern Friday night. Some of Tyree Nichols's

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Speaker 1: final words on video were gut wrenching screams for his mother.

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Speaker 1: The family attorney has said. Tyree Nichols's mother recalls the

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Speaker 1: moment that she learned of her son's arrest. This after

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Speaker 1: five former Memphis police officers have been involved in the

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Speaker 1: arrest have all been charged with murder and kidnapping. That

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Speaker 1: was announced by the Shelby County District Attorney Steve mulroy.

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Speaker 1: Nichols was pulled over on January the seventh by the

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Speaker 1: Memphis Police for what they said the five officers said

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Speaker 1: was reckless driving, and a confrontation occurred, the department said.

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Speaker 1: The police chief said the department has been unable quote

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Speaker 1: to find anything that substantiated the probable cause for reckless driving.

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Speaker 1: The mother sat down with Don Lemon, and again, I've

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Speaker 1: got to give an incredible amount of respect to Tyree

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Speaker 1: Nichols family for the way that they have dealt with this.

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Speaker 1: It is unbelievable to hear what they're saying. I'll give

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Speaker 1: you an example. I want each and every one of

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Speaker 1: you to protest in peace, she said at a candlelight vigil.

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Speaker 1: I don't want us burning up our cities, tearing up

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Speaker 1: our streets because that's not what my son stood for.

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Speaker 1: And if you guys are here for me and Tyree,

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Speaker 1: you will protest peacefully. Tyree nichols mother said that to

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Speaker 1: supporters at a candlelight vigil hours after the five former

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Speaker 1: Members police officers were charged with murder. She sat down,

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Speaker 1: as I said with Don Lemon at CNN was out

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Speaker 1: about the moment you heard of her son's arrested. Listened

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Speaker 1: to us. The Memphis Police Department banged on our door

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Speaker 1: approximately around between eight thirty and nine o'clock, asking if

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Speaker 1: I knew Tyree Nichols, and we said, yes, what's going on?

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Speaker 1: He's been arrested, arrested for what? DUI do you? I?

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Speaker 1: My son don't drink like that. What do you mean,

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Speaker 1: d U I? Well, we had to pepper spray him

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Speaker 1: and chase him. So he's been attended to by the

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Speaker 1: paramedics and we'll send him to the hospital and then

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Speaker 1: after that he'll go to booking. What they then asked

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Speaker 1: me was he on any type of drugs or anything

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Speaker 1: of that nature. Because he was. They were saying that

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Speaker 1: it was so difficult to put the handcuffs on them,

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Speaker 1: and he had this amount of energy, superhuman energy, and

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Speaker 1: what they were describing was not my son. So I

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Speaker 1: was very confused. I asked if I can go to

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Speaker 1: the hospital. They told me no. They left My husband

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Speaker 1: and I. We got in our car and we went

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Speaker 1: to go see if we could find Tide, because he

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Speaker 1: wasn't answering his phone or anything. When I asked them

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Speaker 1: where my son was, they said nearby, nearby? What is nearby?

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Speaker 1: I got nothing from them. I think now that I'm

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Speaker 1: actually putting things together, I believe they were trying to

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Speaker 1: cover it up when they first came to my door.

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Speaker 1: So around four o'clock in the morning, the doctors called

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Speaker 1: from Saint Francis and said, missus Wells, do you know

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Speaker 1: your son's in the hospital, And I said yes, I

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Speaker 1: was advised by the police officers. He said, why aren't

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Speaker 1: you here, and I said the police officer said that

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Speaker 1: I couldn't come because he was under arrest. The doctor

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Speaker 1: proceeded to tell me that my son had went into

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Speaker 1: cardiac arrest and that his kidneys were failing. This doesn't

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Speaker 1: sound consistent to somebody being taste or a pepper sprayed.

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Speaker 1: When my husband and I got to the hospital and

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Speaker 1: I saw my son, he was already gone. They had

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Speaker 1: beat him to a pope. He had bruises all over,

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Speaker 1: his head was swollen like a watermelon. His neck was

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Speaker 1: busting because of the swelling. They broke his neck. My

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Speaker 1: son's nose looked like an s They actually just beat

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Speaker 1: the crap out of them. And so when I saw that,

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Speaker 1: I knew my son was gone. Then even if he

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Speaker 1: did live, he would have been a vegetable. So once

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Speaker 1: I got to the hospital, all the police officers were

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Speaker 1: basically whisked out because I heard that the TBI had

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Speaker 1: taken over the investigation and that was it. They spoke

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Speaker 1: to us, asked a bunch of questions, but I knew

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Speaker 1: something wasn't right. I just didn't understand why they stopped

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Speaker 1: my son in the first place. You said that you

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Speaker 1: thought from the initial time when they contacted you that

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Speaker 1: they were trying to cover up. Why did you think that. Well.

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Speaker 1: I didn't think that initially as I started getting information

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Speaker 1: and information was coming to me, because they made it

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Speaker 1: seem like the stop in the start, the start, and

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Speaker 1: the stop of the was at a certain location, when

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Speaker 1: actually they were less than eighty feet from my home.

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Speaker 1: You talked about what you saw. Now, I hate to

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Speaker 1: bring this up, but I just have to be honest,

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Speaker 1: you know, Mtel. Yes, it's reminiscent of that. I haven't

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Speaker 1: seen the video. I'm talking about what you saw when

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Speaker 1: you went to the hospital. Oh, yes, yes, yes, that

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Speaker 1: was That was terrible. Dad. You agree with him, Oh,

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Speaker 1: most definitely, because I'm the one who took the picture.

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Speaker 1: This circulated and I took the picture because he was

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Speaker 1: in such a terrific condition. He shouldn't have been in

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Speaker 1: that condition from pepper spray and tasty. He was never conscious.

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Speaker 1: You said, you believe if he lived, he would have

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Speaker 1: been a vegetable. Yes. Shocking to hear from the family

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Speaker 1: and for them to be so articulate explaining what happened

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Speaker 1: and at the same time calling for peace. I have

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Speaker 1: to say, not only is the family an incredibly strong

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Speaker 1: family that seems to be so unbelievable in the way

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Speaker 1: they've been compassionate and also made it queer. They do

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Speaker 1: not and violence. They want peace, to not be violent

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Speaker 1: when this video's release. Be peaceful in your protests. They

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Speaker 1: have made that clear. The mother saying it, she understands

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Speaker 1: that the world is watching, and she says, if you

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Speaker 1: care about me, and if you're with here, for here,

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Speaker 1: with my kid, for my child, she said, and I'll

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Speaker 1: read it again, I want to each and every one

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Speaker 1: of you to protest in peace. I don't want us

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Speaker 1: burning up our cities, tearing up our streets, because that's

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Speaker 1: not what my son stood for. And if you guys

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Speaker 1: are here for me and Tyree, you will protest peacefully.

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Speaker 1: What an amazing mother to understand the gravity of this moment,

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Speaker 1: and an amazing mother to be able to understand how

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Speaker 1: important it is that she says that to the world.

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Speaker 1: And she didn't say just the city of Memphis where

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Speaker 1: she is, She said to our cities, meaning around the country.

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Speaker 1: The police chief has also come out and talked about

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Speaker 1: what she saw on that video, preparing people for what

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Speaker 1: they're going to see. She gave her first interview since

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Speaker 1: the Nichols beating, and this is what she had to

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Speaker 1: say about that video. When did you first learn about

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Speaker 1: this incident? It was probably about four o'clock in the

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Speaker 1: morning that previous the previous day, eight o'clock at night,

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Speaker 1: nine o'clock. This incident occurred about four o'clock in the morning.

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Speaker 1: I learned of the incident, and it was just a

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Speaker 1: strange summary of what occurred on the traffic stop, and

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Speaker 1: I decided to go in the office and meet with

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Speaker 1: the individuals that had information that I could take a

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Speaker 1: look at it, even though at that time Tyree was

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Speaker 1: in the hospital, but still because he had injuries that

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Speaker 1: that I just didn't understand. It was incomprehensible to me.

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Speaker 1: We came in the office and decided to take a

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Speaker 1: look that Sunday morning, and it was alarming. That's when

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Speaker 1: you Sunday mornings when you first saw the video salute

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Speaker 1: right and then when you saw it, what was your reaction? Um?

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Speaker 1: I was I was outraged. I was it was incomprehensible

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Speaker 1: to me, it was unconscionable, and I felt that I

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Speaker 1: needed to do something and do something quickly. Uh. I

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Speaker 1: don't think I've witnessed anything of that nature in my

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Speaker 1: entire career. Really really that bad. It was that bad.

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Speaker 1: What are we going to see then, Um, you're going

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Speaker 1: to see acts that defy humanity. You're going to see

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Speaker 1: a disregard for life, UM, duty of care that we're

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Speaker 1: all sworn to, and UM a level of physical interaction

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Speaker 1: that is above and beyond what is required in law enforcement.

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Speaker 1: And and I'm sure that you know, as I said before,

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Speaker 1: that individuals watching will feel what the family felt. And

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Speaker 1: if you don't, then you're not a human being. And

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Speaker 1: we all are human beings. And I think there will

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Speaker 1: be a measure of sadness as well. How long do

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Speaker 1: these incidents go on? We heard from the district attorney

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Speaker 1: yesterday and from the head of the TVI that there

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Speaker 1: were two separate incidents, right, yes, How long do they

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Speaker 1: go on? And when? When? What was the worst part

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Speaker 1: of it? Because it has been said that the officers

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Speaker 1: became charged, yes, during the second incident, that they got

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Speaker 1: more rolled up, well from the very beginning. To me,

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Speaker 1: they were rolled up, you know, I don't think they

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Speaker 1: were as amped up as they were on the second

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Speaker 1: at the second scene, but just the stop, the nature

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Speaker 1: of the stop, very aggressive, loud, you know, um communication,

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Speaker 1: and it was it just rose from there. It escalated

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Speaker 1: from there. Um, mister Nichols was able to get away

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Speaker 1: from these officers and um they found him again at

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Speaker 1: another location, and at that point there was a there

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Speaker 1: was an amount of aggression that is unexplainable. You know,

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Speaker 1: in any instance where where you're apprehending someone, even in

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Speaker 1: the worst situations when there is resistance, officers still have

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Speaker 1: the responsibility to exercise care and regard for any individual

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Speaker 1: that's in custody or they're attempting to apprehend, and they're

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Speaker 1: trained to do that and to de escalate, And that's

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Speaker 1: a piece I think that is in question, But I

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Speaker 1: think the escalation was there from the officers before training

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Speaker 1: even needed to come in. As it relates did the escalate,

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Speaker 1: the escalation was already at a high level. The escalation

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Speaker 1: was already at a high level. When you listen to

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Speaker 1: not only the mother, but you listen to the police

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Speaker 1: chief and you listen to the stepfather, what you hear

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Speaker 1: here is is clearly this was personal for these officers involved.

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Speaker 1: This was not a normal traffic stop and the way

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Speaker 1: that they treated him, this was not normal. Tyree Nichol's stepfather,

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Speaker 1: Rodney Wells, described the video of his son's arrest, saying

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Speaker 1: one officer kicked him like he was kicking a football.

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Speaker 1: A couple of times. They had this little like stick,

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Speaker 1: this metal thing that they pull out. They pull it

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Speaker 1: out like an antenna. I saw them pull that out

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Speaker 1: and started beating my son with it, and I saw

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Speaker 1: officers hitting on him. I saw officers kicking him well,

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Speaker 1: as added that the officers did not render aid to

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Speaker 1: his son. The most telling thing about the video to

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Speaker 1: me was the fact that it was maybe ten officers

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Speaker 1: on the scene and nobody tried to stop it, or

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Speaker 1: even after they beat him and they propped him up,

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Speaker 1: no one rendered aid to him whatsoever. The charges against

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Speaker 1: these police officers show officers who beat Nichols quote caused

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Speaker 1: his death and are responsible, the district attorney says. Shelby

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Speaker 1: County District attorney said the charges his office brought against

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Speaker 1: the former Memphis officers who beat Tyree Nichols show that

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Speaker 1: they caused his death and are responsible for his death.

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Speaker 1: District Attorney Moroy said that he wouldn't characterize the video

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Speaker 1: of the incident that will be released later on Friday

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Speaker 1: six o'clock Central or after, but add that anyone who

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Speaker 1: had seen the video has realized relatively quickly that this

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Speaker 1: needed to be followed up on, saying, quote, I assure

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Speaker 1: you that once you see the video, I think people

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Speaker 1: can draw their own conclusions, but I don't imagine there'll

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Speaker 1: be a lot of perceived ambiguity, mulroy added. Tyree Nichols

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Speaker 1: mother also calling for police reforms, saying, we don't care

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Speaker 1: what color the officer is. We want bad officers taken

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Speaker 1: off the force. I don't care what color police officer is,

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Speaker 1: but by the accused officer being black, it hurt the

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Speaker 1: black community, she added, referring to all the officers who've

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Speaker 1: been fired were all African American. They have brought shame

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Speaker 1: to their own families. They have brought shame to the

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Speaker 1: black community. She said. These former officers have to show

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Speaker 1: some compassion to people, and they have to learn that

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Speaker 1: everyone is human and is human and everyone Wells also

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Speaker 1: said that the Memphis Police Chief C. J. Davis is

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Speaker 1: doing an quote excellent job and I feel she's moving

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Speaker 1: things along. Benjamin Crump said that Memphis and we can

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Speaker 1: if you're a Memphi and be proud of this statement

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Speaker 1: has now given the country a blueprint of how to

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Speaker 1: do things when something horrific like this happens with the transparency,

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Speaker 1: with the quickness with a communication, and that is maybe

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Speaker 1: the only positive thing that's come out of this. We're

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Speaker 1: now hearing that other cities are preparing for protests ahead

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Speaker 1: of today's expected release of the police video showing the

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Speaker 1: beating of Tyree Nichols. We know that those five former

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Speaker 1: officers have been charged with murder. The Nichols family and

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Speaker 1: the White House are calling for peaceful demonstrations. I hope

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Speaker 1: that the entire country listens to this, because this is

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Speaker 1: an incredibly brave, heroic, god loving family that is asking

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Speaker 1: and saying, do not burn cities down, do not riot,

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Speaker 1: do not loose peacefully protest, Do not take this away

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Speaker 1: from my son. He would not want this listen. A

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Speaker 1: lot of unease in Memphis and in cities coast to

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Speaker 1: coast this morning, as police prepared to release that traffic

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Speaker 1: stop video tonight that led to the death of Tyree Nichols.

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Speaker 1: The Nichols family has seen this video already, their lawyers

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Speaker 1: saying it will show officers savagely beating Nichols for three minutes,

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Speaker 1: and an assault they say looks like the infamous beating

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Speaker 1: of Rodney King in nineteen ninety one. In fact, listen

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Speaker 1: to how the police chief in Memphis describes it in

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Speaker 1: this brand new interview with CNN this morning. I was

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Speaker 1: it was incomprehensible to me, It was unconscionable, and I

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Speaker 1: felt that I needed to do something, and do something quickly.

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Speaker 1: I don't think I've witnessed anything of that nature in

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Speaker 1: my entire career. That chief then firing those five officers involved.

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Speaker 1: We have learned this morning four of them have posted

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Speaker 1: bond and are free this morning, though they are all

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Speaker 1: charged here with second degree murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping, official misconduct,

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Speaker 1: and oppression. While each of the five individuals played a

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Speaker 1: different role in the incident in question, the actions of

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Speaker 1: all of them resulted in the death of Tyren Nichols,

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Speaker 1: and they are all responsible. Nichols family gathering with others

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Speaker 1: overnight for a candlelight vigil at a Memphis skate park.

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Speaker 1: Nichols family and President Biden also both urging people who

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Speaker 1: planned a protest to do so peacefully. The White House

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Speaker 1: releasing this statement from the President, reading, in part I

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Speaker 1: joined Tyree's family and calling for peaceful protest. Outrage is understandable,

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Speaker 1: he says, but violence is never acceptable, going on to

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Speaker 1: say it has no place in peaceful protest seeking justice.

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Speaker 1: White House saying what they said obviously an important moment.

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Speaker 1: What I know is this mother has shown a strength

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Speaker 1: that I believe she probably only is getting from the Lord.

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Speaker 1: And she's talked about her faith, and she's talked about

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Speaker 1: she knows where her son is. I know that the

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Speaker 1: city has gotten a lot of things right. And she

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Speaker 1: said that the transparency, the quickness, the communication, I'll say

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Speaker 1: it again, is probably the only good thing to come

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Speaker 1: out of this. Benjamin Crump also coming out and slamming

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Speaker 1: these police officers over the issue of de escalation. He

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Speaker 1: had this to say on CNN this morning. Can I

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Speaker 1: ask you something? She said, her son came here on

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Speaker 1: a mission, and she doesn't hate anybody. She feels sorry

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Speaker 1: for them doing the work that you do. Is there

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Speaker 1: a lesson and that you said this is a blueprint,

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Speaker 1: should be a blueprint around the country. So what is

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Speaker 1: the mission? What will accomplish the mission that she believes

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Speaker 1: that her son was sent to this earth for and

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Speaker 1: taken too quickly. And the prayer that I believe Miss

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Speaker 1: Wales is articulating is that this won't have to happen

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Speaker 1: to other young black and brown children. We don't have

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Speaker 1: to learn so many hashtags down them, and I don't

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Speaker 1: have to keep talking to you on CNN week after

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Speaker 1: every other week about yet another unwed black person has

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Speaker 1: been killed by police and a highly controversial manner. Hopefully

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Speaker 1: this institutional police coaches that says it's okay to engage

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Speaker 1: an excessive force against black and brown people will found

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Speaker 1: and be dept with. We won't continue to try to

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Speaker 1: say that, oh, it's training. They can d escalate just

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Speaker 1: fine when it's white citizens. We see that all the time.

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Speaker 1: But it's when it's black and brown citizens. No matter

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Speaker 1: if the police are black, Hispanic, or white, they seem

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Speaker 1: to do the most dyned limit. And so this is

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Speaker 1: the blueprint from now. You know, Memphis Police Department terminated

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Speaker 1: them immediately, the DA fought charges within twenty days. Now,

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Speaker 1: when it's not black officers, we want to see this

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Speaker 1: same type of justice. You listened to Ben Crumped there

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Speaker 1: slamming police brutality and also saying this is the blueprint

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Speaker 1: and this will become the new standard. I am obviously

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Speaker 1: concerned about my hometown, and I am concerned about the

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Speaker 1: rest of the country. I am concerned by the reaction

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Speaker 1: to the community. I am concerned by what we're all

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Speaker 1: going to see. As the police chief said, you are

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Speaker 1: going to see acts that defy humanity. That's what you're

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Speaker 1: going to see. She also said, we're going to do

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Speaker 1: the right thing. She said she's never witnessed anything like

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Speaker 1: this in her entire career. Now I'm joined live now

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Speaker 1: by the Memphis Police Chief, C. J. Davis. Thank you,

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Speaker 1: Chief for joining us. I really appreciated. Hi'm gonna wear

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Speaker 1: my glasses so that could because I had very specific things.

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Speaker 1: I want to ask you about the charges. These five

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Speaker 1: officers have now been charged with second degree murder in

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Speaker 1: the death of Tyree Nichols. What's your reaction to these

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Speaker 1: very serious charges. Well, I expected serious charges, I really did. Actually,

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Speaker 1: the charges that were placed, or at least the administrative

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Speaker 1: charges were probably the most severe that I've seen in

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Speaker 1: my career. But they were absolutely appropriate, and I knew

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Speaker 1: that the next step would be in the hands of

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Speaker 1: the DA's office, so I am not surprised. These were

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Speaker 1: pretty extraordinary measures, I must say it, and all the

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Speaker 1: times that I've been covering these types of incidents, to

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Speaker 1: fire the officers, to charge them. So strictly, does that

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Speaker 1: speak to what we're going to see on that videotape

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Speaker 1: when it is released after seven pm Eastern? Absolutely? I

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Speaker 1: think that, you know, it also speaks to the fact that,

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Speaker 1: you know, over the last several years, we have all

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Speaker 1: talked about police legitimacy, you know, and police reform, and

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Speaker 1: I think it's really important that in instances like this,

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Speaker 1: when they are serious, when they are that they do

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Speaker 1: arise to that level where persons constitutional rights have been violate,

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Speaker 1: their civil rights have been violated, that we act and

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Speaker 1: we act swiftly. What did your first learn about this incident? Chief?

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Speaker 1: It was probably about four o'clock in the morning that

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Speaker 1: previous the previous day, eight o'clock at night, nine o'clock.

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Speaker 1: This incident occurred about four o'clock in the morning. I

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Speaker 1: learned of the incident and it was just a strange

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Speaker 1: summary of what occurred on the traffic stop, and I

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Speaker 1: decided to go in the office and meet with the

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Speaker 1: individuals that had information that I could take a look

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Speaker 1: at it, even though at that time Tyree was in

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Speaker 1: the hospital, but still because he had injuries that that

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Speaker 1: I just didn't understand. It was incomprehensible to me. We

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Speaker 1: came in the office and decided to take a look

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Speaker 1: that Sunday morning, and it was alarming. Members police chief

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Speaker 1: make it clear never witnessed anything like this, and she

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Speaker 1: knew something was wrong right away. I will say this

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Speaker 1: about Wells and Rodney Wells a stepfather, they are angels

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Speaker 1: of this city. The fact that she says she feels

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Speaker 1: sorry for these police officers, what they've done to the

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Speaker 1: black community, what they've done to themselves, what they have done,

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Speaker 1: she said, still like a nightmare. I'm still trying to

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Speaker 1: understand all of this and trying to wrap my head

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Speaker 1: around all this. It's still like a nightmare. The fact

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Speaker 1: that the Memphis Police Chief says the department has still

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Speaker 1: not been able to sustain reckless driving, to stop driving,

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Speaker 1: stop off Tyree Nichols is also incredibly shocking. But she said,

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Speaker 1: and I'll leave you with this statement, and it's the

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Speaker 1: one that I hope everyone remembers. The mother of Tyree

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Speaker 1: Nichols said, I want each and every one of you

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Speaker 1: to protest in peace. I don't want us burning up

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Speaker 1: our cities, tearing up our streets because that's not what

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Speaker 1: my son stood for. And if you guys are here

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Speaker 1: for me and Tyree, you will protest peacefully. Tyree Nichols

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Speaker 1: mother is an angel. God bless her and her family,

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Speaker 1: and we'll see you back here tomorrow