Tyre Nichols video worse than Rodney King footage, Memphis police chief says

The police department intends to release the video to the public on Friday evening.

King barely survived on 3 March 1991, when he was beaten by officers from Los Angeles police department during an arrest after a car chase, with the violence caught on tape.

FBI director Christopher Wray said the bureau had opened a civil rights investigation.

She said she has watched the tape and heard Nichols calling out for his mother as he was being beaten.

Van Turner, president of the Memphis branch of the NAACP, said that the police had committed the kind of crimes they are supposed to be fighting against.

Advocates called for swifter justice for violent police of any race.

The officers had been fired and were charged on Thursday with various crimes including second-degree murder.

Joe Biden appealed for calm as marches were planned in a host of US cities.

Nichols died in hospital on 10 January from injuries sustained during the encounter.

The video to be released on Friday evening is expected to include footage captured by body cameras, as well as cameras mounted on the dashboards of police vehicles and security cameras on utility poles in the vicinity.