Protests broke out across the country late Friday after the release of police bodycam footage showing the “unconscionable” deadly beating of Tyre Nichols by Memphis cops.
Crowds flocked to the streets in major cities over the explosive video, which Memphis’ police commissioner warned had showed “acts that defy humanity.”
Protesters charged the Memphis and Arkansas Bridge shortly after the police department released the graphic footage Friday night and shut down all four lines of the roadway,
the Daily Caller reported.The group had started the takeover on the Blues Highway, where they briefly congregated to chant Nichols’ name as they stopped to chant, “Our streets,” a move that forces a semi-truck to brake just a few feet from the protestors,
Town Hall reported. The protesters then climbed the sloped grass to the upper level of Interstate 55, where they caused a major backup of hundreds of vehicles on the major thoroughfare.
The protesers stood in front of the cars and semi-trucks with their arms raised in a surrender signal as an irritated driver honks,
video shows.
The driver of a semi-truck, the first stopped by the group, told the Daily Caller he empathized with the movement, but had a hard day of work and just wanted to pass.”
Holding up traffic don’t do nothing,” he
told a protester. “Then what do we do, bro?” the protester responded.
Other protests were organized in New York City, as well as Sacramento, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Seattle, with police at the ready for potential violence.
The White House said it held a joint emergency call Friday with the mayors of at least 16 cities before the sickening video’s release “to brief them on federal preparations in support of state and local leaders.
“Participating mayors shared their perspectives on how important it is to recognize the pain felt by communities across this country, be prepared in advance with a game plan to provide adequate community support, and to reinforce the importance of peace and calm during these difficult moments,” the Biden administration said in a statement about the call, which included cities from New York to Atlanta, Washington, DC, Seattle and Portland.
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