(NewsNation) — A day after video footage of Tyre Nichols being beaten by police was released, protests continued in cities across the U.S.

The Memphis, Tennessee, Police Department released four videos of the arrest Friday, three from body-worn cameras and one from a street surveillance camera.

Footage showed five Memphis police officers beating the 29-year-old Black FedEx driver as he called out for his mother during an arrest earlier this month. The five officers have now been charged with second-degree murder, among other charges.

In Memphis, on the evening the video was released, there were protests, which remained peaceful, as Nichols’ family had requested.

Dozens of protesters chanted “Say his name! Tyre Nichols!” in honor of the man remembered by friends and family as a “joyful” father who loved skateboarding and photography.

Community activist Stevie Moore told WREG he hopes the preparations pay off as this community grieves the loss of Tyre Nichols.

“Let’s not take nobody’s life through this. We just had a tragedy, a terrible tragedy. I’m asking the public, let’s let (Memphis Police Chief) CJ Davis and (Nichols’ family’s attorney) Ben Crump and them, let them do their jobs,” Moore said.

Several dozen protesters in the city blocked a heavily traveled bridge on Interstate 55 Friday that is one of two main spans connecting Arkansas and Tennessee over the Mississippi River.

Meanwhile, in New York, there were some clashes with police. One person jumped on top of a police cruiser in Times Square and shattered the window.

Other protests cropped up in other cities as well on Friday, including Chicago and Washington, D.C.

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris both condemned the beating of Nichols that eventually ended in his death.

The president said in a statement that he was “outraged and deeply pained to see the horrific video” of the beating and said people who see it will be “justifiably outraged.”

NewsNation local affiliate WREG and the Associated Press contributed to this article.

(NewsNation) — Antonio Romanucci, the attorney representing Tyre Nichols’ family, is challenging a statement put out by the attorney for one of the fired Memphis police officers.

Attorney Blake Ballin, who represents former officer Desmond Mills Jr., released a statement Saturday calling for “caution and patience” in judging his client’s involvement in the events leading to Nichols’ death.

Ballin said the body camera footage proves that his client did not cross the same lines as his fellow officers and he believes he’ll be cleared of the charges against him.

“I challenge the statement. … If he’s bold enough to say the video proves something on behalf of his client, then I’d like to say that the video proves that, indeed, all of them acted together, and were accomplices in the second-degree murder of Tyre Nichols,” Romanucci said during an appearance on “NewsNation Prime.”

Romanucci added that there is no reason Nichols’ family won’t go after Mills, in addition to the other charged officers.

Authorities on Friday released body camera footage of Nichols’ arrest, which showed five Memphis police officers beating the 29-year-old Black FedEx driver as he called out for his mother during an arrest earlier this month.

The officers, all of whom are Black, were charged Thursday with murder and other crimes in the killing of Nichols, a motorist who died three days after the Jan. 7 altercation with the officers that occurred during a traffic stop.

Left: Justin Smith, top center: Emmitt Martin III, top right: Desmond Mills Jr., center left: Demetrius Haley, right bottom: Tadarrius Bean (Photos provided by Memphis Police Department)

“The videos released on January 27 have produced as many questions as they have answers. The question of whether this city would react to these videos and mourn with Tyre Nichols’s family in a peaceful way has been answered. 

Some of the questions that remain will require a focus on Desmond Mills’s individual actions; on what Desmond knew and what he was able to see when he arrived late to the scene; on what Desmond knew and what he was able to see after he was pepper sprayed; and on whether Desmond’s actions crossed the lines that were crossed by other officers during this incident.   

We continue to urge caution and patience in judging Desmond Mills’s actions. 

We are confident that the questions of whether Desmond crossed the lines that others crossed and whether he committed the crimes charged will be answered with a resounding no.”

Attorney Blake Ballin IN A STATEMENT SATURDAY

Memphis Police Chief 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.

“We’re very pleased that they did what they did with the five officers that administered the severe beating, but I hope they don’t stop there,” Romanucci said. “I think there’s a lot of accountability. … I think there are a lot of reasons for why Tyre is not with us anymore, and everyone needs to be held accountable.”

A specialized police group known as the Scorpion Unit, which included the five officers charged, was permanently deactivated on Saturday, according to a statement from the Memphis Police Department.

“Scorpion” is an acronym for Street Crimes Operations to Restore Peace in our Neighborhoods.

Omer Messinger/Getty Images

• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has faced criticism for delaying the delivery of tanks to Ukraine.
• Scholz’s indecision became the topic of Ukrainian memes that coined the term “Scholzing.”
• “Scholzing” means to communicate good intentions, but find or invent reasons to delay action.

The indecision of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is the stuff of memes.

As Scholz spent weeks hesitating — and facing international pressure — over sending advanced Leopard 2 tanks to battle Russian forces in Ukraine, his name took on a new meaning.

—Timothy Garton Ash (@fromTGA) January 19, 2023

“Scholzing,” a verb found in Ukrainian memes, has come to mean “communicating good intentions, only to use/find/invent any reason imaginable to delay these and/or prevent them from happening,” according to historian Timothy Garton Ash.

Representatives for Scholz did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

—French Canadian Fella ⚜️🇨🇦🇺🇦 (@lebeaujfnoel) January 22, 2023

Though Scholz did this week announce Germany’s approval to send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, he delayed the decision with claims that the tank’s availability had to be checked. He also insisted the move be tied to a United States commitment to send their own Abrams tanks to the frontlines.

Extensive Western aid supporting Ukraine has faced international criticism since the invasion began last year, with some academics and policy experts, such as Charles A. Kupchan, a professor of international affairs at Georgetown University, arguing in a New York Times opinion piece that fighting Russian control of the Ukrainian Donbas region and Crimea is “not worth risking a new world war.”

—川和碧薇💙💛 (@BiviHuaHua) January 24, 2023

Ash did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment, but described Scholz’s foot-dragging on sending the tanks as “weak, contradictory, inconsistent, historically insensitive, morally problematic, disingenuous and counter-productive.”

“German foot-dragging could mean that Russia ends up hanging onto more of that territory, and therefore being able to claim a partial victory in any resulting de facto if not de jure peace settlement,” Ash wrote in a Substack post about Scholz. “There is good reason to believe that some German policymakers – as always, giving strategic priority to the long-term relationship with Russia – privately reckon that this would be an outcome we should settle for. That is the truth that dares not speak its name.”

—Flyin’Fella До Валгалли (@Kryptobirdie) January 20, 2023

Scholz’s exceptionally cautious approach to relations with Russia, European political commentator Matthew Karnitschnig wrote for Politico, is “rooted in the prevailing German narrative” that the country’s ongoing economic and diplomatic relations with the Soviets is “what ended the Cold War and led to reunification.”

“Yet Germany’s perception of how and why the Cold War ended has become its reality and informs both policy-making and public opinion,” Karnitschnig wrote. “Scholz too has shown that the only thing allies can count on Germany for is that it will drag its feet, parse every decision large or small and then play what Germans like to call a ‘beleidigte Leberwurst’ (an offended liver sausage), demanding more ‘respect.'”

Karnitschnig is not the first to compare Scholz’s political maneuvering to that of a sulking sausage – in May, German news site DW News reported Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, used the phrase to describe Scholz after he refused to visit Kyiv following the Russian invasion.

“It doesn’t sound very statesmanlike,” DW News reported Melnyk said at the time, “To behave like a beleidigte Leberwurst.”

The specialized police unit that included the five Memphis officers charged with the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols was disbanded on Saturday as more protests took place in U.S. cities a day after harrowing video of the attack was released.

The police department said in a statement it was permanently deactivating the SCORPION unit after the police chief spoke with members of Nichols’ family, community leaders and other officers. A police spokesperson confirmed all five officers were members of the unit.

Video recordings from police body-worn cameras and a camera mounted on a utility pole showed Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, repeatedly screaming “Mom!” as officers kicked, punched and struck him with a baton in his mother’s neighborhood after a Jan. 7 traffic stop. He was hospitalized and died of his injuries three days later.

Five officers involved in the beating, all Black, were charged on Thursday with murder, assault, kidnapping and other charges. All have been dismissed from the department.

Nichols’ family and officials expressed outrage and sorrow but urged protesters to remain peaceful. That request was largely heeded on Friday when scattered protests broke out in Memphis – where marchers briefly blocked an interstate highway – and elsewhere.

Cities across the United States saw renewed nonviolent demonstrations on Saturday. In Memphis, protesters chanting, “Whose streets? Our streets!” angrily catcalled a police car that was monitoring the march, with several making obscene gestures. Some cheered loudly when they learned of the disbandment of SCORPION.

Hundreds of protesters gathered in New York’s Washington Square Park before marching through Manhattan, as columns of police officers walked alongside them.

Taken together, the four video clips released Friday showed police pummeling Nichols even though he appeared to pose no threat. The initial traffic stop was for reckless driving, though the police chief has said the cause for the stop has not been substantiated.

The SCORPION unit, short for the Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in our Neighborhoods, was formed in October 2021 to concentrate on crime hot spots. Critics say such specialized teams can be prone to abusive tactics.

Friends and family say Nichols was an affable, talented skateboarder who grew up in Sacramento, California, and moved to Memphis before the coronavirus pandemic. The father of a 4-year-old child, Nichols worked at FedEx and had recently enrolled in a photography class.

Nate Spates Jr., 42, was part of a circle of friends, including Nichols, who met up at a Starbucks in the area.

“He liked what he liked, and he marched to the beat of his own drum,” Spates said, remembering that Nichols would go to a park called Shelby Farms to watch the sunset when he wasn’t working a late shift.

Nichols’ death is the latest high-profile instance of police using excessive force against Black people and other minorities. The 2020 murder of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a white Minneapolis officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes, galvanized worldwide protests over racial injustice.

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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Saturday urged a swift conclusion to talks on a free trade deal between the European Union and the Mercosur South American trade bloc, on the first stop in Buenos Aires of his inaugural tour of the region.

Seeking to reduce Germany’s economic reliance on China, diversify its trade and strengthen relations with democracies worldwide, Scholz is visiting Argentina, Chile and Brazil, all led by fellow leftists who came to power in the region’s new “pink tide.”

Berlin wants to lower its dependence on China for minerals key to the energy transition, making resource-rich Latin America an important partner. The region’s potential for renewable energy output is another attraction.

“There is great potential to further deepen our trade relations, and the possibilities that could come from the EU-Mercosur deal are obviously particularly significant,” Scholz told a news conference alongside Argentine President Alberto Fernandez.

Fernandez has blamed European protectionism for holding up the deal, agreed to in principle in 2019 but not ratified by national parliaments. EU ambassadors have said Brazil must take concrete steps to stop soaring destruction of the Amazon rainforest.

Berlin hopes that concern can be put aside with the election in Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has promised to overhaul the country’s climate policy. Scholz is to meet him on Monday at the end of his three-day tour.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which sparked an energy crisis in Germany due to its heavy reliance on Russian gas, increased awareness of the need to reduce economic reliance on authoritarian states.

For Germany to reduce its reliance on China for minerals it will need to embrace sectors it has shied away from, a German government official said on Friday.

“For example lithium mining – that’s a challenging task, especially regarding the environment and social standards,” the official, traveling with Scholz, told reporters.

Argentina and Chile sit atop South America’s “lithium triangle” which holds the world’s largest trove of the ultra-light battery metal.

About a dozen business executives – including the heads of Aurubis AG (NAFG.DE), Europe’s largest copper producer, and energy company Wintershall Dea AG (WINT.UL) Dea – are accompanying the chancellor.

Fernandez said he and Scholz discussed the possibility of attracting German investment to the country’s vast shale gas reserve, lithium deposits and green hydrogen production.

Wintershall Dea, for example, is part of a consortium that in September announced it was investing around $700 million to develop a gas project off the coast of Argentina’s southernmost tip, Tierra del Fuego.

“Argentina has the potential to supply Europe with energy in the long term,” chief executive Mario Mehren said in a statement.

So many Palmer Report readers have thrown out nicknames for Donald “Assolini” Trump. And I’ve used a great deal of them in my work.

A few people have mentioned they do not like the name-calling of Trump. Be better, they say. I respectfully disagree. Most of these nicknames are created by Palmer report readers and some, such as — Assolini, Putin’s poodle, IQ4.5, and Donnie, do wrong are wildly entertaining. Thankfully most agree!

I would like to add my own to the mix. That name is simply — creeper.

The fact is Donald Trump is a very creepy man. He is dark, slithery, and eel-like.

He talks to himself, refers to himself in the third person, and now wants to speak to Putin, or at least, that is what he said the other day on Truth Social.

Trump is claiming on Truth Social that he and he alone can stop Putin’s war against Ukraine. Let me speak to Putin, the creeper pleaded.

In fact, creeper says he can negotiate a peace deal “within 24 hours.”

And I believe him.

Not about the peace deal.

But I do believe that was Trump still in office, there might not be a war. Allow me to explain why.

Were Donald John Trump president, I have NO doubt he would sink his tentacles into Ukraine and hand them to Putin on a silver platter.

There would be no help for them. There would be no tanks or money. Trump has told us and shown us in many ways that he IS Putin’s poodle (thanks, Palmer Report reader.)

And that means always agreeing with Putin, as Lindsey Graham always agrees with him. What a bunch of scared little puppies the GOP is! What a bunch of cowards.

So Donald “Creeper” Trump would sell Ukraine down the river. That is one more reason why we should really thank our lucky stars that this creep of all creeps is no longer in power.

It would be an utter disaster for Ukraine, and I’m sure Trump is feeling very angry about Putin’s war right now because Ukraine is kicking ass, and in Trump’s mind, that likely means the wrong person is winning.

The post CREEPER appeared first on Palmer Report.

It’s a unique philosophical conundrum for the United States Congress. Never in its storied 233 year history has the identity of one of its members been in doubt. Today it’s unclear whether the name of New York’s recently seated member of Congress is George Santos, Anthony Devolder — or if he is someone else.

The problem isn’t just ours, it’s also his. Santos is so shaky about his own identity that he apparently couldn’t meet the requirement for a visit to the White House. It’s a tradition this time of year, after newly minted Congressional members have been installed, for the President to meet them. That’s why virtually every new US Congressperson and Senator has at least one photo of themselves with the President of the United States.

George Santos is the kind of guy who’d never pass up a chance like that. Except for one thing. He needs two things: a verifiable birth date and a social security number.

You see, the Secret Service uses both to do mini-security clearances on all persons meeting the President for the first time. Oddly, George Santos did not submit his birth date and social security number in application for the traditional visit. I wonder why? Could George “Anthony Devolder” Santos be a total fiction?

Meanwhile, Santos made another huge mistake. He resubmitted his campaign finance report. This time he changed two things. First he unchecked the box claiming that the $700,000 contribution for his campaign came from his personal funds. Unfortunately the report doesn’t tell us where the money actually came from.

You see, it’s legal for a candidate to use his or her own money to finance a run for Congress, but a $700,000 contribution from someone else is too much to accept from a single person. In fact it’s a federal crime.

The second mistake Santos made was to change the name of his campaign finance treasurer. That’s not illegal, but forging the electronic signature of his new treasurer is. ABC reports that veteran campaign finance treasurer Thomas Datwyler, who has worked in that capacity on several campaigns, denies that he was ever campaign finance treasurer for George Santos. But that’s the name on Santos’ brand new filing.

Santos is now in serious legal trouble. He has blatantly broken two federal campaign finance laws. For his crimes he will be investigated and, if sufficient evidence is found to convict, he could go to jail. The statutory maximum sentence for such a violation is five years in prison.

If George Santos goes to prison, it could prove terminal for the majority members of the 118th Congress. Their tiny majority could be reduced by one member. A runoff election would be held, and the third New York district he has so disingenuously represented will almost certainly go to a Democrat. Speaker Kevin McCarthy could wind up with a decidedly short tenure.

You see, McCarthy knew before Santos was elected that Santos’ campaign had credibility problems. Had McCarthy not been the dumbest man to pick up the Speaker’s gavel in history he could have undertaken preemptive measures. But because McCarthy is stupid, he didn’t. And now he’s paying a very heavy price.

George Santos probably longs for the “good old days” when he was known merely as a pathological liar. Now he’s in deep criminal peril, and this could turn out to be the thousandth cut that fatally wounds the Republican Party. Let us hope. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.

The post George Santos ducks and covers amid serious legal trouble appeared first on Palmer Report.

North Korea on Sunday criticized for a second day a U.S. decision to send tanks to Ukraine, calling it an “unethical crime” aimed at perpetuating an unstable international situation.

Washington’s allegations that North Korea has provided arms to Russia are a “groundless rumor” to justify its own military aid to Ukraine, Kwon Chung-keun, director of U.S. affairs at North Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA.

“The U.S. is working hard to supply such offensive weapons as (main battle tanks) to Ukraine at any cost in disregard of the just concern and criticism of the international community,” the statement said. “This is an unethical crime aimed at keeping the international situation unstable.”

The baseless claims of North Korea-Russia arms deals are a “grave provocation that can never be allowed” and perpetuating them will bring a “really undesirable result”, Kwon added.

On Saturday North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, denounced U.S. pledges of battle tanks to Ukraine, claiming Washington was “further crossing the red line” to win hegemony by proxy war, KCNA reported.

Nuclear-armed North Korea launched an unprecedented number of missiles last year, including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. U.S. and South Korean officials have also warned the North could be preparing for its first test of a nuclear device since 2017.

The White House said in December that North Korea completed an initial arms delivery of infantry rockets and missiles to a private Russian military company, the Wagner Group, to shore up Russian forces in Ukraine.