Last Updated on January 28, 2023, 3:51 PM | Published: January 28, 2023
OKLAHOMA CITY — A statement Friday on the Oklahoma City Police Department’s Facebook page and Twitter account expressed condemnation of the beating death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of five Memphis Police Department officers.
The five Memphis officers have since been fired, and, according to the Associated Press News Service, they have “been charged with murder and other crimes in Nichols’ death three days after the arrest.”
The statement said that Chief Wade Gourley and “the men and women of our agency, are appalled by the tragic and unneccessary death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, Tennesee.”
Those comments were part of a larger statement posted to the department’s Facebook page Friday. It came in response to release of video of the beating death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of five Memphis, TN police officers.
The statement mentioned that the family was in the department’s “thoughts and prayers.”
“We condemn the actions of the officers involved in Mr. Nichols’ death, and we commend the Memphis Police Department’s swift investigation and action of terminating the employment of those who were involved,” the statement continued.
The statement continued, “As a law enforcement agency, community trust is imperative to our core values. The mission of the Oklahoma City Police Department is to deliver exceptional police services to our community with integrity, compassion, accountability, respect, and equity.”
According to the on-call OKCPD public information officer on duty Saturday, another statement will be made by the department to the press Monday.
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At 2:30 p.m. Saturday, 437 comments had been made on the Facebook post, some in support of OKCPD and Chief Gourley.
But, there were also some who used this occasion to condemn the culture of policing as a whole.
Another sizeable group of commenters that seemed pro-police also condemned the actions of the Memphis officers and implored the OKCPD to not allow the same thing to happen here.
For others, this is opening old pain of local Cityans who have experienced abuse at the hands of police in the past.
Free Press will continue to cover the local aspects of this story as they develop.
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
