(KTXL) — The images from the Memphis Police video showing Tyre Nichols and his confrontation with officers stirs up emotions for the family of Rodney King, a Black man who was filmed being beaten by white police officers in Los Angeles in 1992.
King’s daughter, Lora King, shared with FOX 40 News her feelings on how police treated Tyre Nichols and what she thinks about police work now, nearly 32 years after her father’s beating by police.
“Those guys moving had body cameras and for them to do that, that lets me know that again, this is repetitive behavior,” King said to FOX 40 News on Saturday, a day after Memphis Police released videos of the officers’ fatal interaction with Nichols.
“It was nasty when they pulled him over … The tone, the language and everything. It was disgusting. He ran for his life,” said King.
King acknowledges that police officers are exposed to horrific situations on the job, but says better mental evaluations need to be done before someone is hired to be a law enforcement officer.
The videos released on Friday show the traffic stop that ended with police striking and kicking Nichols, as well as using a baton against him.
The Sacramento native was left hospitalized and died three days later.
All five officers were fired and arrested and now face several criminal charges, including second-degree murder.
A sixth officer was relieved of duty and other emergency personnel have been put on leave as supervisors investigate their role in the encounter.
“When you are a Black man and you’re pulled over, there’s a huge percentage that you’re not going to be going home,” said King. “(He) was begging for his mom.”
Nichols died just two minutes from his Memphis home.
King says that, despite the fact that decades have passed since her father’s vicious encounter with police, so much more needs to change in the way police treat people.
Rodney King survived his encounter with police. The white officers that beat him were later acquitted in court, setting off deadly riots in Los Angeles and triggering a national conversation about police abuse.
When talking to FOX 40 News, King said she asks of police, “What if this was your child? And your child had to watch you be slaughtered like this?”
“It shouldn’t have happened and it shouldn’t be happening.”