The 29-year-old cried out for his mother during the violent arrest that led to his death, footage shows.
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Footage of a traffic stop that has seen five ex-Memphis police officers charged with murder appears to show them taking turns to brutally kick and punch a motorist.
Tyre Nichols, 29, is heard crying out repeatedly for his mother during the arrest in Memphis on 7 January.
The videos show a Taser being used on Mr Nichols before he flees. Clips then show him being held down and beaten.
Protests are planned on Friday night in Memphis and other US cities.
Police initially said Mr Nichols had been stopped on suspicion of reckless driving, which has not been substantiated. He died in hospital three days later, on 10 January.
US President Joe Biden said in a statement: “Like so many, I was outraged and deeply pained to see the horrific video of the beating that resulted in Tyre Nichols’ death.”
Memphis Police Department released four graphic videos on Friday evening of the traffic stop.
The first clip shows officers pulling Mr Nichols out of his vehicle and shouting at him to get on the ground.
“I didn’t do anything!” he says. Officers then force him to the ground and demand that he lies flat.
Within seconds one of the officers uses a Taser on him, and Mr Nichols leaps up and manages to run away.
A second video appears to show the view from a CCTV camera on a pole across the street of a residential area, as two officers hold Mr Nichols down while others take turns kicking and punching him and striking him with what appears to be a baton.
They drag him across the ground and prop him sitting up against a squad car.
The third and fourth videos show police body camera footage of the beating, with Mr Nichols being held down, pepper-sprayed and assaulted as he appears to repeatedly shout: “Mom!”
Mr Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, has said her son was only about 70 metres (230ft) from home when Memphis police officers “murdered him”.
The five officers – Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr, Emmitt Martin III, and Justin Smith – were fired last week.
They all face charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.