Saturday Night Live took a moment to get serious by addressing the killing of Tyre Nichols during the cold open of its latest episode.
In the sketch, Mikey Day played U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland who discussed the classified documents found at the homes of President Joe Biden and former Vice-President Mike Pence.
Playing one of the FBI Special Agents during the sketch, Kenan Thompson returns near the end of the segment to call for swift justice in the Nichols' case.
“Hey boss, when we done playing with your little papers, we gonna head down to Memphis and make sure justice is served down there too, right?” Thompson said.
“I sincerely hope so,” Day, as Garland, answered.
“Yeah, you damn right—just making sure,” Thompson said.
Thompson's line garnered a round of applause from the studio audience at 30 Rock.
On January 10, Nichols died in the hospital after being brutally beaten by five police officers for a traffic violation three days earlier. The officers, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmit Martin, and Desmond Mills Jr., were all fired and have each been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, two charges of aggravated kidnapping, two charges of official misconduct and one charge of official oppression.
Late on Friday, police body camera and surveillance videos were released to the public showing the vicious beating of Nichols who was less than 100 yards from the home of his parents.
Bonds are set at $350,000 for Martin and Haley, and $250,000 for Bean, Mills and Smith.
According to Tennesee law, the officers could be sentenced to 15-60 years in state prison.
All former officers are currently being investigated by the Department of Justice and the Memphis police department.
