Footage of the violent arrest that led to the death of Tyre Nichols has been made public
It appears to show Memphis police officers shouting profanities and taking turns to kick and punch the 29-year-old after a traffic stop
His mother says no-one should go through what she is going through - and says the five former police officers charged over his death "disgraced their families"
Protesters in Memphis have been calling for an end to police violence and holding signs reading 'Justice for Tyre'
"It was the police culture in the US that killed Tyre Nichols," lawyer Ben Crump said earlier during a news conference
President Biden has called Mr Nichols' parents, expressing his condolences and mentioning the loss of his own son Beau
Five police officers - who have all now been fired - are facing murder charges. Lawyers for two of the accused say they will fight the charges
Crump continues by giving a reaction to the charges announced by the district attorney yesterday.
He wants to give remarks in anticipated of Tyre's last known movements.
"We begin with our reactions to the charges," he says.
Attorney Ben Crump says the people most affected by this tragedy, have shown such grace and are also present.
He introduces to Tyre Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells, and Rodney Wells, his stepfather, who will be speaking shortly.
Crump goes on to thank community activists for their support since the death of Tyre Nichols.
He say they knew something wasn't right and they stood up for justice before the lawyers became involved in the case.
He asks people gathered for the press conference to applaud those activists.
The press conference started with a prayer inside Mount Olive church in Memphis, Tennessee.
Attorney Ben Crump takes to the mic first with Tyre Nichols' mother and stepfather by his side.
"We are proud to represent the family of Tyre Nichols," he begins.
A press conference with Tyre Nichols' family has now started in Memphis.
Stay with us as we bring you the latest from it, and you can watch it live by clicking the Play button at the top of this page.
Roderick Macleod
BBC News, Memphis
I'm at Mt. Olive church where the press conference is about to begin. Ben Crump, along with the Nichols family, have just filed in.
We are still waiting for the family press conference to begin.
Broadcast microphones have been set up so stay with us and we'll bring you the latest from the news conference.
Barbara Plett Usher
North America correspondent, BBC News
Officials feel that they have to release the footage - from body cameras and other cameras that captured the incident - in the interest of transparency.
But they have seen it, and so has the family, and they also feel that it is quite shocking.
Family members have said the officers kicked Tyre like a football, one of the lawyers has said they beat him like a "human pinata".
It sounds quite disturbing and the words used to describe it by some of the officials have been "shocking" and "staggeringly brutal".
You can imagine that it will be a difficult watch, and the city is concerned that this will ignite anger and destructive demonstrations.
Officials have delayed releasing it until they were able to conduct as much of the investigation as they could and until the indictments were brought down by the grand jury, and the charges were levelled by the police officers.
But they are urging protesters to respond to it in a peaceful manner, and that will happen later today and should be about an hour of footage.
We're expecting to hear from Tyre Nichols' family at a press conference in Memphis within the next few minutes.
Earlier, the 29-year-old's parents described how he was beaten "to a pulp" during the "horrendous" incident that led to his death.
A police video showing Tyre's arrest involving five officers is expected to be released after 18:00 local time on Friday (00:00 GMT on Saturday).
Outside of Tennessee, protesters in Washington DC are also planning to take to the streets, according to social media.
As we reported earlier, security is being increased around the US Capitol building, external ahead of the release of the video.
The DC police, which is different from the Capitol police, are also fully activating their force today.
Police departments across the US are thought to be preparing for protests over the weekend.
Meanwhile in neighbouring Georgia, a state of emergency has been declared in response to protests over a shooting in Atlanta last week.
Protesters have been stationed outside the Atlanta Public Safety Training Centre - nicknamed "Cop City" - for months but the situation has since escalated since the incident on 18 January.
A protester, named as Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, was shot and killed by law enforcement after Teran reportedly wounded a state trooper during an operation to remove demonstrators from the area, CBS News reports.
Protests in the days since led to property damage and a police car being set on fire, prompting Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to implement the state of emergency.
This will be in effect until at least 9 February, while 1,000 National Guard troops have also been deployed to the area.
Memphis, America and the rest of the world are waiting for police to release a video of 29-year-old father Tyre Nichols being beaten by police earlier this month - so what do we know is in it?
This is what we know about the events of the night of 7 January which the video is expected to depict:
Only a small number of people have seen the video, including Nichols' stepfather Rodney Wells, the family's legal team and several officials.
Tyre Nichols died in hospital days after being pulled over for alleged reckless driving on 7 January.
In the footage expected to be released later today, Tyre - who was beaten to death - can apparently be seen struggling with five officers who have since lost their jobs and been charged with his murder.
Here is what we know about Tyre's last known movements in Memphis earlier this month.
Image source, .On Monday, Tyre Nichols's mother shared her grief over the loss of her son.
"Everybody say they had a good son... but my son, he actually was a good boy," RowVaughn Wells said in a statement.
Tyre Nichols: My son was a good boy, says Tyre's mother
Here's a reminder of what senior state officials in Tennessee have been saying about the death of Tyre Nichols after he was stopped by police.
"Since learning of this tragic event, transparency and swift methodical action have been our top priorities", said Memphis mayor Jim Strickland on Thursday.
Tyre's family and the city's people "deserve nothing less", he added.
Describing the officers' actions as "awful", he said "no-one is above the law".
He pledged to do everything possible to keep "this type of heinous act" from ever happening again, announcing an independent review of its specialist units.
The governor of Tenessee, Bill Lee, said "cruel, criminal abuse of power" would not be tolerated in the state.
Writing on Twitter, he added: "These individuals do not represent the honourable men and women of law enforcement and they must be brought to justice for this tragic loss of life."
Four of the five former Memphis police officers charged over the death of Tyre Nichols were released from jail by early this morning, Fox News reports that jail records show.
All four posted bonds, says the US news outlet, which means the men have placed an amount of money with the city to guarantee their next court appearance.
Desmond Mills and Justin Smith each posted $250,000 (£202,340) and were released Thursday evening, it says.
Emmitt Martin and Tadarrius Bean were released by 04:00 local time (10:00 GMT), Fox News details.
Bean also posted $250,000 and Martin posted $350,000 (£283,346), it says.
Demetrius Haley has not paid his $350,000 bond and remains in jail, Fox News added.
Image source, ReutersCapitol police on 6th January 2023, the second anniversary of it being stormed
We're seeing reports that security is being increased around the US Capitol building, external in Washington DC ahead of the release of the video.
It's thought that police departments across the US are preparing for protests over the weekend.
The DC police, which is different from the Capitol police, are also fully activating their force today.
Image source, ReutersAlongside Tyre Nichols' parents in that CNN interview was their attorney Ben Crump.
The lawyer, who has seen the video of Tyre being beaten to death, told CNN: “The last words America is going to hear, gut-wrenching screams for his mother.
"There is so much video tape America is about to see. Over an hour long."
But, Crump praises the efforts of Memphis Police Department after firing five officers following Tyre's death; and the subsequent charges brought on them.
"This is the blue print for America when you see officers committing crimes on video," he adds.
"Swiftly and efficiently.”
Image source, Getty ImagesRowVaughn Wells, mother of Tyre Nichols, along with her husband Rodney Wells and lawyer Ben Crump
We've just listened to a deeply emotional interview with Tyre Nichols' mother RowVaughn Wells and stepfather Rodney Wells.
They've been speaking to CNN and they spoke about initially being told by police, who came to their door, that Tyre had been arrested for driving under the influence.
Officers told her he had been cuffed, tasered and taken to the hospital but she was not allowed to go and see him.
Hours later, she received a call from the hospital asking where she was and was told Tyre had gone into cardiac arrest and his kidneys were failing.
RowVaughn says: "They had beat him to a pulp. He had bruises all over, his head was swollen like a watermelon, his neck was busting, they broke his neck.
"So when I saw that I know my son was gone. If he had lived he would have been a vegetable."
RowVaughn has not been able to bring herself to watch the video, but Rodney has seen the hour-long clip.
He describes one officer “kicking Tyre like he was kicking a football".
"Ten officers on the scene and nobody tried to stop it," he adds. "They smoked cigarettes, bragging about what happened. An hour of video, he was sitting there and slumped over and an officer said ‘sit back up’.”
RowVaughn finishes the interview by saying she doesn't hate the officers as it is not in her nature.
She says she feels sorry for what they have done to her family, their families and the black community.
She adds: "They did something horrendous."
Image source, Getty ImagesCerelyn Davis in 2020, when she was at Durham Police Department
More now from Cerelyn Davis, Memphis city's police chief, who says she has "never witnessed anything like this in my career".
Speaking to CNN, she said there was no evidence of a legitimate reason to stop Tyre Nichols and said the bodycam footage showed the incident was "worse than Rodney King".
In March 1991, black motorist Rodney King was beaten by white police officers in Los Angeles - and it was caught on camera.
The trial and subsequent acquittal of the officers involved sparked violent riots.
In a statement posted on YouTube on Thursday, Davis said of Tyre's death: "This is not just a professional failing, this is a failing of basic humanity towards another individual.
"This incident was heinous, reckless and inhumane. I expect our citizens to exercise their First Amendment right to protest, to demand action and results. But we need to ensure our community is safe in this process.
"None of this is a calling card for inciting violence or destruction on our community or against our citizens."