‘It Was THAT Bad’: Memphis Chief Gives Shocking Account of Tyre Nichols Video To CNN’s Don Lemon

Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis told CNN anchor Don Lemon “It was that bad” when asked what people can expect to see in the body cam video of Tyre Nichols suffering what would become a fatal beating by police.

Tensions are high as the nation awaits the release of body cam video of the deadly beating of 29-year-old Nichols.

Nichols died on Jan. 10 after allegedly being beaten by Memphis Police Department officers during a Jan. 7 traffic stop. On Thursday, five officers were charged with murder in the case. Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy announced the charges against former officers Emmit Martin III, Justin Smith, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Desmond Mills — all of whom were fired a week ago.

On Friday morning’s edition of CNN This Morning, Lemon interviewed Chief Davis for twenty-plus minutes, going over every aspect of the horrific case.

At one point, Lemon asked Davis to tell viewers what they can expect to see when the footage is released Friday evening:

LEMON: That’s when you — Sunday morning is when you first saw the video?

DAVIS: That’s absolutely right.

LEMON: And then, when you saw it, what was your reaction?

DAVIS: Um, I was — I was outraged. I was — it was incomprehensible to me. It was unconscionable. And I felt that I needed to do something and do something quickly. I don’t think I’ve witnessed anything of that nature in my entire career.

LEMON: Really?

DAVIS: Really.

LEMON: That bad?

DAVIS: It was that bad.

LEMON: What are we going to see, then?

DAVIS: You’re going to see acts that defy humanity. You’re going to see a disregard for life. Duty of care that we’re all sworn to. And a level of physical interaction that is above and beyond what is required in law enforcement.

And I’m sure that — you know, as I said before, that individuals watching will feel what the family felt. And if you don’t, then you’re not a human being — and we all are human beings. And I think there will be a measure of sadness as well.

LEMON: How long do these incidents go on? We heard from the district attorney yesterday and from the head of the TBI that there were two separate incidents, right?

DAVIS: Yes.

LEMON: How long do they go on, and when — what was the worst part of it? Because it has been said that the officers became charged —

DAVIS: Yes.

LEMON: — during the second incident. That they got more riled up.

DAVIS: Well, from the very beginning to me, they were riled up, you know. I don’t think they were as amped up as they were on the second — at the second scene. But just the stop — the nature of the stop, very aggressive, loud communication. And it was — it just rose from there. It escalated from there.

Mr. Nichols was able to get away from these officers and they found him again at another location. And at that point, there was — there was an amount of aggression that is unexplainable, you know.

In any instance where you’re apprehending someone, even in the worst situations when there is resistance, officers still have the responsibility to exercise care and regard for any individual that’s in custody or they’re attempting to apprehend, and they’re trained to do that.

LEMON: And to de-escalate.

DAVIS: And to de-escalate. And that’s the piece I think that is in question, but I think the escalation was there from the officers before training even needed to come in as it relates to de-escalate. The escalation was already there at a high level.

LEMON: So you’re saying they did everything wrong? Nothing that — you think this was outside of their training — everything.

DAVIS: Oh, absolutely for sure.

Watch the full interview above via CNN This Morning.