U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday he was "outraged and deeply pained" to see footage of Tyre Nichols' fatal arrest in the state of Tennessee.
"Like so many, I was outraged and deeply pained to see the horrific video of the beating that resulted in Tyre Nichols' death," Biden said in a statement shortly after authorities in Memphis released the graphic video of police beating the 29-year-old Black man after a traffic stop.
Nichols died Jan. 10, three days after the violent arrest.
"It is yet another painful reminder of the profound fear and trauma, the pain, and the exhaustion that Black and Brown Americans experience every single day," said Biden. "My heart goes out to Tyre Nichols' family and to Americans in Memphis and across the country who are grieving this tremendously painful loss."
The U.S. president said the footage will leave people "justifiably outraged," but he urged them "not to resort to violence or destruction."
"Violence is never acceptable; it is illegal and destructive. I join Mr. Nichols' family in calling for peaceful protest," he said.
Video of Nichols' beating by five Memphis Police Department (MPD) officers was released late Friday as the nation braces for civil unrest.
The video shows the now-former officers initially pulling over Nichols.
The officers throw him to the ground, try to cuff him and use a taser, before Nichols escapes and runs away but is later caught and beaten.
