Skip to main content

London police Chief releases statement on death of Tyre Nichols

Share

London police Chief Steve Williams has released a statement condemning any abuse of authority and excessive force after a police-related death in Tennessee earlier this month.

Authorities in Memphis, Tenn., announced a police video will be released Friday at 7 p.m., depicting five officers beating a Black man, whose death prompted murder charges against them.

The officers, all of whom are Black, were charged Thursday with murder and other crimes in the killing of Tyre Nichols, a motorist who died three days after a confrontation with the officers during a traffic stop on Jan. 7.

Williams said the actions of the officers are not reflective of the standards we abide by, nor the values embodied by the London Police Service.

Family members of Nichols pleaded for any protests to remain peaceful.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told a news conference that although the officers each played different roles in the killing, "they are all responsible."

Nichols' family members and their lawyers said the footage shows officers savagely beating the 29-year-old FedEx worker for three minutes in an assault that the legal team likened to the infamous 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King.

Here is the full statement from Williams:

The London Police Service condemns any abuse of authority and excessive force or brutality against any person. The actions of the officers responsible for the killing of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennessee, are not reflective of the standards we abide by, nor the values embodied by the London Police Service. On behalf of our members, I would like to extend my deepest sympathy to the family and loved ones of Mr. Nichols.

I want to assure our community that that London Police Service stands with you in your grief and outrage. We have been in dialogue with our policing colleagues through the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) who have released their own statements relative to this incident. We stand united.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'

The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.

Stay Connected