The Memphis police chief disbanded the city's so-called Scorpion unit on Saturday, citing a "cloud of dishonor" from the newly released video that showed some of its officers apparently beating Tyre Nichols to death after stopping the black motorist on January 7.

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Police Director Cerelyn Davis acted a day after the harrowing video emerged, saying she listened to Nichols' relatives, community leaders, and uninvolved officers in making the decision. Her announcement came as the nation and the city struggled to come to grips with the violence of the officers, who are also black. The video renewed doubts about why fatal encounters with law enforcement keep happening despite repeated calls for change. "It is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate the Scorpion unit," she said in a statement. She said the officers currently assigned to it agreed "unreservedly."

Cities nationwide had braced for demonstrations after the video emerged, but protests were scattered and nonviolent. Protestors marching through downtown Memphis cheered when they heard the unit had been dissolved. Protesters also blocked traffic in New York City, Los Angeles, and Portland, Oregon.

The unit is composed of three teams of about 30 officers whose stated aim is to target violent offenders in areas beset by high crime. It had been inactive since Nichols' Jan. 7 arrest. Scorpion stands for Street Crimes Operations to Restore Peace In Our Neighborhoods.

The five disgraced officers – Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III, and Justin Smith – have been fired and charged with murder and other crimes in Nichols' death, which came three days after the arrest. They face up to 60 years in prison if convicted of second-degree murder.

The video images released Friday show police savagely beating the 29-year-old FedEx worker for three minutes while screaming profanities at him. Nichols calls out for his mother before his limp body is propped against a squad car and the officers exchange fist-bumps.

The video also left many unanswered questions about the traffic stop and about other law enforcement officers who stood by as Nichols lay motionless on the pavement. "Nobody tried to stop anything. They have a duty to intervene, a duty to render care," Brenda Goss Andrews, president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, said in an interview after viewing the video. She also was struck by the immediate aggression from officers as soon as they got out of the car: "It just went to 100. ... This was never a matter of de-escalation," Goss Andrews said, adding, "The young man never had a chance from the moment that he was stopped." Rodney Wells, Nichols' stepfather, said the family would "continue to seek justice" and those who failed to render aid are "just as culpable as the officers who threw the blows."

After the first officer roughly pulls Nichols out of the car, Nichols can be heard saying, "I didn't do anything," as a group of officers begins to wrestle him to the ground. One is heard yelling, "Tase him! Tase him!" Nichols calmly says, "OK, I'm on the ground," and that he was just trying to go home. Moments later, he yells at them to "stop." Nichols is then seen running as an officer fires a Taser. The officers start chasing Nichols. Others are called, and a search ensues before Nichols is caught at another intersection. His mother's home, where he lived, was only a few houses away, and his family said he was trying to get there. The officers beat him with a baton, and kick and punch him. The attack continues even after he collapses. It takes more than 20 minutes afterward before any sort of medical attention is provided. During the wait for an ambulance, officers joke and air grievances. They complain that a handheld radio was ruined, that someone lost a flashlight, and that multiple officers were caught in the pepper spray used against Nichols.

It's not clear why the traffic stop happened in the first place. One officer can be heard on video saying that Nichols wouldn't stop and then swerved as though he intended to hit the officer's car. The officer says that when Nichols pulled up to a red light, the officers jumped out. But Davis said the department cannot substantiate the reason for the stop. "We don't know what happened," she said, adding, "All we know is the amount of force that was applied in this situation was over the top."Throughout the videos, they make claims about Nichols' behavior that are not supported by the footage or that the district attorney and other officials say did not happen. In one, an officer claims that during the initial traffic stop, Nichols reached for the officer's gun and almost had his hand on the handle, something not shown in the video. After Nichols is in handcuffs and leaning against a police car, several officers say he must have been high. Later one says no drugs were found in Nichols' car, and another immediately counters that he must have ditched something while running away.

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday said the footage "was perhaps not totally conclusive but, to me, it was pretty conclusive and it was vicious and violent and hard to believe – over a traffic violation," he said. He described the brutal beating as "horrible" and that the attack "never should have happened."

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Israel Hayom learned Sunday that as part of authorities' efforts to help their officers, both the NYPD and the FBI have contacted Israel's largest crisis center for assistance in how to help their law enforcement officials psychologically deal with the highly volatile situation.

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Natal – the Israel Trauma and Resiliency Center is an NGO specializing in the fields of war and terrorism-related trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, and resiliency-building among civil society.

The organization was established in 1998 by the late Dr. Yossi Hadar and Judith Yovel Recanati, who serves as its chairperson. Defense Minister Benny Gantz currently heads Natal's public advisory board.

In 2013, Natal was honored with the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies Public Advocacy Award for outstanding and fundamental contributions to advancing social understanding of trauma.

Since its foundation, the organization has helped hundreds of thousands of Israelis of all ages deal with the country's complex security reality.

The unprecedented scope of the events rattling the US over the past few weeks has taken its toll on police officers, who are also dealing with increased anxiety and stress. This has prompted the FBI and NYPD to seek Natal's help due to its unique experience in treating members of the security forces who suffer from these conditions.

The sessions between American police officers and Natal's team of psychologists take place via video conference and focus on the ongoing crisis in the US, the coronavirus pandemic, the economic situation, the violent riots, and the burnout and fatigue wearing down law enforcement in the US.

So far, over 120 sessions have been held.

Natal CEO Orly Gal said the collaboration attested to the organization's professional experience and international reputation.

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Pompeo said the 47-member-state forum's unanimous resolution on Friday on policing and race was a new low for the council and reaffirmed the United States' decision to withdraw from the organization in 2018.

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"The United Nations Human Rights Council, now comprised of Venezuela and recently, Cuba and China, has long been and remains a haven for dictators and democracies that indulge them," Pompeo said in a statement. "It is a grave disappointment to those genuinely seeking to advance human dignity."

The death of Floyd, a 46-year old Black man who died on May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes, has led to widespread demonstrations in the United States and across the globe against police brutality and racial injustice. Pompeo said the civil discourse was a sign of the United States' democracy, strength, and maturity.

"If the Council were serious about protecting human rights, there are plenty of legitimate needs for its attention, such as the systemic racial disparities in places like Cuba, China, and Iran," he said.

"If the Council were honest, it would recognize the strengths of American democracy and urge authoritarian regimes around the world to model American democracy and to hold their nations to the same high standards of accountability and transparency that we Americans apply to ourselves."

The resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council was brought by African countries. Floyd's brother, Philonise Floyd, had urged the Council to investigate US police brutality and racial discrimination.

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Demonstrators blocked highways around the country, including a major thoroughfare through central Tel Aviv and the main highway into Jerusalem, snarling traffic late into the night. Protesters burned tires and held signs calling for justice. In Tel Aviv, a protester set a car on fire and demonstrators clashed with police.

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Police said officers arrested 60 people believed involved in disturbances and at least 80 people, including 47 officers, were wounded in clashes.

Several officers were reportedly receiving medical attention after being sprayed with tear gas as they rescued a driver whose windshield was smashed by protesters after he had apparently broken through the barrier they created at Tel Aviv's central Azrieli junction.

Dozens more Ethiopian Israelis joined a Facebook campaign declaring that they would refuse to perform their reserve army duties.

The protesters, led by activists from the country's Ethiopian minority, demonstrated against perceived systematic discrimination by police toward the community after an off-duty officer shot and killed Tekah.

The protests were expected to resume on Wednesday, according to the police.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement expressing sympathy for the Ethiopian community and acknowledging that "there are problems that need to be solved," but warning demonstrators that the authorities "will not tolerate the blocking of roads."

"We all mourn the tragic death of young Solomon Tekah. We embrace the family. We embrace the Ethiopian community. It is dear to me; it is dear to us. These are not mere words.

"I know that there are problems that need to be solved. We have worked hard and need to work more to solve them. But I ask of you one thing. Stop blocking the roads. We are a nation of law; we will not tolerate the blocking of roads. I ask you, let us solve the problems together while upholding the law," the prime minister said.

Thousands attended Tekah's funeral Tuesday. Police said the officer in question was arrested and was placed in protective custody by court order.

Ethiopian Israeli lawmakers and protesters, and Tekah's family have demanded that the involved officer be held accountable.

"I hope that [my son] will be the last victim," David Tekah, Solomon's father, said at the funeral. "We demand that the murderer receive what he deserves and justice is done."

Ethiopian Jews began arriving in large numbers in the 1970s and many were airlifted to Israel in clandestine operations in the 1980s and 90s during periods of unrest. Today, the Ethiopian community is estimated at approximately 150,000, or around 2% of the country's population, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.

While some of its members have made strides in certain fields, many Ethiopian Israelis complain of racism, lack of opportunity, endemic poverty, and routine police harassment.

That frustration turned to public outcry and mass protests in 2015 after a police officer was filmed beating a uniformed Ethiopian Israeli soldier, and there have been sporadic demonstrations since.

Protesters say that in multiple instances of perceived police brutality, officers were not properly held accountable.

"What you see here is the frustration of an entire community that for 40 years is suffering discrimination," a protester who identified himself only as Hanan told Kan, Israel's public broadcaster.

After meeting with police commanders early Wednesday, meanwhile, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said that while he supports the right to protest, authorities would not tolerate "anarchy."

"The Israel Police made every effort and did everything possible to allow the protesters to express their pain and put across their message," said Erdan. "Forces acted with restraint and tried to avoid violent clashes that would lead to further bloodshed."

"We will continue to protect the rights of protesters to demonstrate, but we will not tolerate anarchy and we will not tolerate serious disruptions to public life," he said, adding that police would also "work to prevent harm to people or serious destruction of property."

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Hundreds of protesters gathered in Haifa, where Solomon Tekah, 19, was shot dead on Sunday night.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that authorities would swiftly investigate Tekah's death, as the officer involved in the incident was detained and later released to house arrest.

Three policemen were wounded as demonstrators in Haifa threw stones and firecrackers, lit tires on fire, and blocked traffic into the city. Protests were held in a number of other cities, as well as outside the home of Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan in Kiryat Ono.

The officer involved in the shooting of Tekah claimed that he was trying to break up a street brawl he came across while off-duty, when three youths attacked him, hurling stones at him. Eyewitness testimony, however, disputed the officer's claim that his life was in danger when he opened fire.

The incident sparked renewed accusations of police brutality and prejudice against Ethiopian Israelis.

Previous tensions between police and the Israeli Ethiopian community boiled over last January when thousands protested in Tel Aviv against police violence and brutality.

The protesters burned trash cans and threw bottles at police, after a mentally unstable young man, Yehuda Biadga, was shot to death, sparking anger and accusations of unfair police treatment.

Israel's Ethiopian community now numbers around 140,000 people, including more than 50,000 who were born in the Jewish state.

This article was originally published by i24NEWS.

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