As the city braced for protests following the release of video showing the fatal beating of a Black man by Memphis police, several dozen people gathered in Dallas for an impassioned but peaceful demonstration.

Footage released Friday evening depicts in harrowing detail the Jan. 7 traffic stop and beating that left Tyre Nichols hospitalized in critical condition. It shows officers viciously attacking the 29-year-old, who can be heard screaming repeatedly for his mom.

Nichols died three days later.

The officers, who are all Black, were arrested on charges including second-degree murder. They were fired last week.

About an hour after the release of the video Friday evening, roughly two dozen people had gathered outside the Dallas Police Department headquarters south of downtown Dallas for a scheduled protest, but organizers of the demonstration said people needed more time to watch the footage.

Some attendees held signs with sayings including “Stop the war on Black America” and “Justice for Tyre Nichols.” Crowding together against the cold, they shouted “No justice, no peace” and “No good cops in a racist system.”

“We’re still seeing this stuff happen again,” said Irfan Sattar, who lives in Dallas and has family in Memphis. “It’s uncalled for. America is supposed to be a great country. We’re a great country, let’s showcase it.”

Calling for an end to a culture of police violence against brown and Black communities, leaders urged the community to join them to push for policy changes in Dallas and the city’s police department.

Dominique Alexander, founder of the Next Generation Action Network, called Nichols’ death a “total disregard for life, for humanity.”

”The culture of policing is what is allowing these officers to feel like they can take our lives,” he said.

“We want peace and calm in our communities, and we will do whatever is necessary to demand justice so our children don’t have to deal with the same bullcrap we are dealing with now.”

Dallas ISD trustee and pastor Maxie Johnson said he knows children in the community will watch the video and see themselves.

“I talk to young Black and brown boys all the time, and they’re afraid for their lives,” Johnson said.

Johnson said he constantly works with the city to get more resources invested into District 5, which he represents, especially in regard to education, which he said he believes will “stop the violence.”

Angelique Colon, who is from Puerto Rico and lives in Garland, urged the Latino community to join the battle against police brutality.

“This is a fight for the Black and brown community,” said Colon, a teacher. “Our students are an easy target because of their skin color.“

Earlier in the day, Changa Higgins, founder of Dallas Action, called on elected officials to develop concrete policies to minimize police encounters — especially for low-level offenses such as traffic stops — to make Dallas police transparency data more user-friendly and to give more power to police oversight.

”It’s time to get back on the streets,” he said.

Tiara Cooper, co-founder of In Defense of Black Lives Dallas, said Nichols’ death should not be misrepresented because of the race of the officers involved.

“We’re here today because systemic racism is real,” she said. “Brother Tyre should be here right now, but we live in a world where traffic stops turn into murder.”

Officials’ reaction

Police chiefs and other officials across North Texas condemned what they saw in the footage and urged residents to remain peaceful in their demonstrations.

Dallas police Chief Eddie García said in a video statement that he was “ashamed and angry” about the Memphis’ officers’ actions.

“As law enforcement, we take an oath to protect and serve,” he said. “The actions that day broke, violated and tarnished that oath.

“The despicable actions of these few former officers do not represent the thousands of honorable police officers across this country, and they certainly don’t represent the honorable, brave men and women of the Dallas Police Department.”

García said authorities expect emotions to run high as people demand justice but stressed that his department would not “condone lawlessness.”

”We will not tolerate any actions that threaten lives or harm people or property,” he said. “Violence is never the answer.”

Grand Prairie Police Chief Daniel Scesney said on Twitter said he was disgusted by the five officers.

“Real cops don’t punch and kick restrained people. Period,” he said. “These Memphis officers have destroyed a family, damaged the fragile trust our public has placed in our profession and will be indirectly responsible for good cops losing their lives.”

Irving police Chief Derick Miller said police leaders should not just be appalled but also “resolute in our determination to look deep within our practices, policies and even our ranks to ensure this deplorable misuse of authority can never happen again.”

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson called the acts in the video reprehensible and offered his prayers for Nichols’ loved ones — and for justice.

“The actions of these former police officers were disgraceful and a betrayal of their oath to uphold the law and protect their community,” Johnson said.

Jesuorobo Enobakhare Jr., chairman of Dallas’ Community Police Oversight Board, said he was encouraged to see Memphis officials move swiftly to bring charges against the former officers. But he said in a written statement that “police policy didn’t kill Tyre; police culture did” and more action is needed for real change.

“At some point, we will see congressional members give their thoughts and prayers,” he said. “How about they back up those thoughts and prayers with action by creating national standards for policing?

“How about all police chiefs make a pledge that they will do everything possible to make sure this never happens again by changing the culture of policing once and for all?”

Tyre Nichols’ death

The officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith — all face charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.

Second-degree murder is punishable by 15 to 60 years in prison under Tennessee law.

Nichols, 29, was shocked, pepper-sprayed and beaten after he was pulled over for a traffic stop near his home Jan. 7.

The family’s lawyers said the officers beat Nichols for three minutes, and the incident has been likened to the 1991 police beating of Rodney King in Los Angeles.

Memphis police Director Cerelyn Davis described the officers’ actions as “heinous, reckless and inhumane” and said Friday that her department has been unable to substantiate the reckless-driving allegation that prompted the stop.

“As far as I know today, I do believe that the stop itself was very questionable,” she said on Good Morning America.

2020 in Dallas

Friday’s video and protests were a reminder of the 2020 protests following the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed by police in Minnesota.

Stretching through the late spring and into summer, those protests, just months into the COVID-19 pandemic, rocked cities across the country. In Dallas, city leaders enacted a curfew in an attempt to curtail unrest and several demonstrators were injured as the protests became contentious and police used less-lethal ammunition and tear gas in attempts to control crowds.

Hundreds of protestors were detained on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge on June 1, and police actions were criticized as law enforcement blocked off both ends of the bridge and detained the crowd that had nowhere to go using a tactic called kettling. Then-police Chief U. Reneé Hall later admitted the department made mistakes during the first few nights of protests.

In the years since, injured protesters sued the manufacturer and seller of weapons used by police and charges were filed against several officers.

Renewed protests

Friday night’s protest was calm, with the crowd growing to more than 50 people later in the evening.

Nichole Mansfield, who lives in Dallas, said the conversation regarding Nichols’ death needs compassion.

”There just needs to be humanity seen in the people that police are encountering, because that’s what leads us to this,” she said, “is police believing that they are so supreme over other beings that they can be the judge, the jury and the executioner.”

Toi McIntosh of Dallas brought her 8-year-old daughter and their emotional support dog, Queen, to the protest. McIntosh said her daughter has been involved in activism since she was 5, but she has not shown her the Memphis video because she wants to maintain the girl’s innocence “as much as I could.”

This case indicates that even Black officers don’t see other people of color as human, she said.

”I’m disgusted with what’s going on,” McIntosh said. “I believe the police system needs to be stripped down and reformed. The policing system that exists now was not created to protect Black people and people of color.”

Before the crowd dispersed, Alexander, the Next Generation Action Network founder, offered a final prayer.

“Father God, our world is hurting right now. Our country is hurting right now. The Nichols family is hurting right now. Families that have lost loved ones to police brutality are hurting right now,” he said.

He concluded: “Give us the strength, the knowledge and the wisdom to keep this fight.”

Staff writers Aria Jones, Jamie Landers, Maggie Prosser, María Ramos Pacheco, Kelli Smith and Michael Williams and The Associated Press contributed to this report.