Updated: March 8, 2023 at 3:30 p.m.

A judge granted a request Wednesday (March 8) to delay release of additional video footage showing the deadly police beating of Tyre Nichols – just hours before Memphis officials planned to make the video public, The New York Times reported.

The request to block the release came from the lawyer of former Memphis police officer, Desmond Mills Jr., who is one of the ex-officers charged with second-degree murder in Nichols’ death. 

In addition to the 20 hours of video footage, the judge also approved a request from Mills to delay release of any audio, personnel files or reports until defense lawyers and the prosecutor could review them.

“The release of this information shall be subject to further orders of this court and, in the public interest, will be ordered as soon as practicable,” the judge’s order read, according to CNN.

Civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton said the judge’s decision delays justice for Nichols’ family and called on the court to immediately release the footage.

“The first round of body camera footage was disturbing on its own – and should be enough to convict all officers charged with this murder,” Sharpton said in a statement to BET.com. “What else are these cops worried this new footage is going to show? From the start we said this needs to be a transparent process.”

News of the 11th-hour delay came on the heels of the Department of Justice's announcement that it will review the Memphis Police Department in the aftermath of Nichols’ death. 

Memphis’ mayor and police chief requested the DOJ’s probe of the department’s “policies, practices, training, data, and processes related to MPD’s use-of-force, de-escalation, and specialized units,” CNN reported.

Original Story:

An additional 20 hours of footage showing Memphis police officers’ deadly encounter with Tyre Nichols on Jan. 7 is set to be released on Wednesday (March 8).

The release of the footage comes more than a month after authorities shared the initial video of the arrest, which showed several officers savagely beating Nichols. The City of Memphis Chief Legal Officer Jennifer Sink said the city will also begin releasing details about the charges and disciplinary action taken against the officers and fire department personnel connected to the incident.

Memphis authorities said they completed their investigation into the vicious police beating of the unarmed Black man who was arrested for alleged reckless driving and died three days later in a hospital from his injuries, CBS News reported.

In total, 13 Memphis Police Department officers were investigated by the department, according to Sink. She shared the update with the Memphis City Council’s Public Safety Committee at a March 7 meeting. Officials fired seven of them, suspended three and dismissed internal charges against two.

Nichols, 29, was on his way home when officers, who were part of a now disbanded street crimes unit, pulled over Nichols and began beating him for no apparent reason. According to authorities, the traffic stop led to a “confrontation” and Nichols, a father of a 4-year-old son, fled the scene on foot as police pursued him.

Memphis initially fired five officers: Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith, all of them are Black. The prosecutor charged them with second-degree murder, two counts of official misconduct, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, one count of official oppression and one count of aggravated assault.

At their Feb. 17 arraignment, the former officers pleaded not guilty.

“I feel very numb right now,” Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, told reporters after the court hearing. “And I’m waiting for this nightmare basically that I’m going through right now, I’m waiting for somebody to wake me up. I know that’s not going to happen.”