Tire Nichols bodycam footage shows five Memphis police officers fatally beating a 29-year-old during a violent traffic stop.

The city of Memphis has released harrowing body camera footage showing the fatal beating of 29-year-old Tire Nichols after he was stopped at a traffic stop.

Nichols died of his injuries on January 10, three days after five officers from the Memphis Police Department violently stopped him.

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Videos released by authorities on Friday show officers stopping Nichols for reckless driving.

Officers pulled the man out of his car and yelled at him to get off the ground as he yelled, “I haven’t done anything” and “I’m just trying to go home.”

Authorities held the Memphis man and severely beat him while he cried for his mother.

All five officers were fired after the incident. They were charged with second-degree murder and related offenses on Thursday, Reuters reported.

The incident has been linked by the family to the infamous police beating of motorist Rodney King in 1991.

Before the video was released, police and politicians in Memphis and other major US cities were preparing for widespread protests.

Nichols’ family encouraged the protests but wants the protesters to remain peaceful.

“If you are here for me and Tyre, you will protest peacefully,” his mother RowVaughn Wells said at a vigil Thursday night, the New York Times reported.

“We don’t tear up our cities because we have to live in them.”

Although all officers are black, many commenters have said their behavior was likely still influenced by institutional racism in the criminal justice system.

Prominent civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who represents the Nichols family, was disgusted by the beatings.

Still, he was pleased with the speed with which officers were charged and the footage released.

“We want to announce that this is the blueprint for the future where all officials, black and white, are held accountable,” Crump said, according to Reuters.

“They can no longer tell us that we have to wait six months to a year.”

The confrontation with officers began after Nichols was pulled over on suspicion of reckless driving, but police have found no evidence to support those claims, the New York Times reported.

Nichols was doused with pepper spray before escaping on foot. Officials then punched Nichols at a second spot, where he sustained his most serious injuries.

The five officers who were fired – Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith – were charged on Friday.

They all belonged to the “Scorpion” unit, a group of officers focused on violent crimes. Many have called for the unit to be disbanded, a measure the Memphis Police Department is currently considering.

The officers were also charged with assault, kidnapping, misconduct and suppression of office.

All five posted bail and have since been released from custody.

Nichols was a FedEx employee whose friends and family remember him as a skilled photographer and avid skateboarder.

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