Footage of a traffic stop in which five former Memphis police officers have been charged with murder shows them kicking and punching a motorist for several minutes as he screams for his mother.
Videos of the Jan. 7 arrest show officers beating Tyre Nichols, 29, who showed no signs of resistance.
US President Joe Biden said he was “deeply saddened” by the “appalling” clip.
Lawyers for Mr Nichols’ family likened the attack to the 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorcyclist Rodney King.
This article contains descriptions of violence that some may find disturbing.
Police initially said Mr Nicholls was stopped on suspicion of careless driving, which has not been confirmed. He died in hospital three days later on January 10.
Mr. Nichols was black, as were all five officers charged in the case.
The Memphis Police Department released four graphic videos Friday of the traffic stop and its violent aftermath, totaling more than an hour of footage.
The first clip shows officers pulling Mr Nichols out of his car and shouting at him to get on the ground.
“I did not do anything!” they say. The officers demand that he lie down on the flat.
“[Expletive] Get on the ground!” One officer shouts, as another is heard saying: “Screw him!”
An officer shouts: “Put your hands behind your back before I break your [expletive].”
“You guys are really doing a lot right now,” Mr. Nicholls tells the officers. “I’m just trying to get home.”
Within seconds, an officer fires a Taser at Mr. Nichols, who jumps and manages to run.
A separate video from a CCTV camera mounted on a utility pole shows officers beating Mr Nichols after they apprehend him in a residential area.
Two officers are seen holding Mr Nicholls while others kick and punch him and hit him with an extendable baton.
They drag him to the ground and put him in front of a squad car. More than 20 minutes pass before an ambulance is seen arriving.
The third and fourth videos show police body camera footage of the beating, in which Mr Nichols is grabbed, pepper-sprayed and assaulted as he repeatedly shouts: “Mommy!”
The videos also show the officers meeting to recount the details of the incident as Mr Nichols lies lying and falling from the car.
Some of them claim that Mr. Nichols “snapped” at them or took their guns, though neither charge is clear from the released video.
Officers can also be heard saying that nothing was found in their vehicle.
Mr Nichols’ mother, Roe Van Wells, has said her son was only 230 feet (70 meters) from the house when Memphis police officers “killed” him.
Family representatives described Mr. Nichols as the father of a four-year-old son and an avid skateboarder who had recently enrolled in a photography class. He worked for the FedEx parcel delivery firm.
One of the lawyers, Antonio Romanucci, said: “This young man, as defined by law in this state, was a terrorist.”
