Editor’s Word: This story has been up to date to make clear that Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) is a member of the Home.

Lawmakers condemned the “brutal and violent killing” of Tyre Nichols on Friday evening, after Memphis authorities released graphic footage of the traffic stop that resulted in Nichols’s demise earlier this month.

“The brutal and violent killing of Tyre Nichols by officers sworn to guard the neighborhood is unconscionable,” Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) stated in a tweet. “Justice for Tyre Nichols should be swift and full.”

The video of Nichols’s arrest on Jan. 10 confirmed the responding officers deploying pepper-spray and a stun gun in opposition to and repeatedly kicking and punching the 29-year-old Black man. Nichols will be heard yelling for his mom all through the beating.

5 officers concerned in Nichols’s demise, all of whom are Black, had been fired from the Memphis police division final week and charged on Thursday with second-degree homicide and different crimes.

“A harmful tradition of violence has permeated far too many police departments on this nation. Time and time once more, it’s deadly,” Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) wrote on Twitter in response to the footage. “Tyre Nichols ought to nonetheless be right here at present. We should change the tradition that perpetuates these tragedies and produce these accountable to justice.”

Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), the pinnacle of the caucus’s Policing, Structure and Equality Process Pressure, stated the “vicious homicide” of Nichols has left them “shaken to the core.”

“The utter lack of humanity on show within the video defies even the worst expectations,” they stated in a press release. “As moms, seeing Tyre name out for his mom is deeply painful.” 

“Persons are rightfully livid by what we’ve seen,” Jayapal and Coleman added. “That anger is justified, and should be directed towards demanding accountability and reform of legislation enforcement and the felony authorized system, together with an finish to the police tradition of use of drive.”

Many different lawmakers equally responded to the footage with horror and a model of the chorus “Tyre Nichols needs to be alive at present.” 

“Tyre Nichols needs to be alive at present,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) stated in a press release. “My coronary heart aches for his household, pals, and family members, who’re coping with an unimaginable loss. His demise is a grave injustice. These accountable should be held accountable, and we are able to’t cease there.”

“You don’t want to see the video to know that Tyre Nichols needs to be alive at present,” Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) stated in a tweet. “I applaud the swift actions taken to carry these accountable for his killing to justice. Nonetheless, police accountability should be the rule, not the exception.”

Many Democrats, including President Biden, known as for the passage of police reform, notably the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, within the wake of movies’ launch.

Whereas there was a swift response to Nichols’ demise with the indictments of the 5 officers, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) famous on Friday that this “can’t carry Tyre again.”

“Sure, the law enforcement officials who brutally murdered him should be held accountable,” Sanders stated in a tweet. “However even their conviction on the strongest potential fees can’t carry Tyre again. We should do every part in our energy to finish police violence in opposition to folks of shade.”

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), one in every of few Republicans to touch upon the footage on Friday, additionally known as for “swift, decisive motion.”

“We’ve been right here too many occasions earlier than. We can’t proceed down this path. America can’t stand silent,” Scott stated in a press release. “This was a person crushed by the ability of the state. We should unite in opposition to this blatant disregard for human life particularly from these we belief with immense energy and duty.”

— Up to date 11:25 p.m.