Five former police officers have been charged with the second-degree murder of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who had been stopped for a traffic violation. A month after Mr. Nichols was killed, police and traffic cameras showed the officers hitting, kicking, and striking him with a baton.
Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith are the five individuals who are accused of the additional offences of official misconduct, official oppression, and kidnapping. Less than a month after the cops were terminated by top police authorities, they were formally charged on Friday at a brief court hearing.
The cops had been members of a specialised street crime team dubbed Scorpion, which was founded in late 2021 with a purpose to assist bring down soaring crime rates. Officers from the team stopped a number of drivers for minor infractions while operating muscle cars, dressed in modified police uniforms and plainclothes, and frequently seized drugs and firearms. The squad was recognised by the mayor of the city with helping to lower the city’s homicide rate. After Mr. Nichols’ passing, the unit was dissolved.
On January 7, Mr. Nichols was removed from his automobile by Scorpion officers after being stopped for what the police initially claimed to be reckless driving. According to video from the scene, the officers chased after him and started beating him. At one point, two officers supported him so a third officer could continue striking him with the baton. Three days later, Mr. Nichols passed away in the hospital.
The officers hurriedly rushed in and out of the courtroom during a brief hearing on Friday morning as their attorneys submitted not-guilty pleas on their behalf.
They had masks on, and most of their facial emotions were concealed.
Judge James Jones Jr. of the criminal court told the defendants to “be patient” and warned that “this case may take some time.”
Tyre Nichols’s Death
When a traffic check turned into a vicious beating, five Memphis police officers have been charged in the death of Tyre Nichols, a Black man.
After the hearing, a prosecutor in the case exuded urgency in a hallway outside the courtroom.
Paul Hagerman, an associate district attorney, stated that Memphis and the rest of the world needed to see that justice was served in this case as soon as possible.
One of the cops’ defence counsel told reporters that the officers had a right to a fair trial. Blake Ballin, who is Mr. Mills’ attorney, said that the decision “must be based on the facts and the law, not the intense emotions our society is experiencing right now.
An additional five officers are being disciplined internally by the department, and a sixth officer has been discharged.
According to internal police records that the city has made available, the cops attempted to hide the beating by making up stories about being in danger. One of the cops, Demetrius Haley, stated that he had heard his partner order Mr. Nichols, “Let my gun go!” according to the records.
Nevertheless, video footage “did not corroborate your oral or written statement and your information was ruled untruthful,” the Inspectional Services Bureau, the internal affairs unit of the Memphis police, stated in a report dated January 14.
Ben Crump, the attorney for the Nichols family, said at a news conference on Friday that Mr. Nichols was attempting to diffuse the situation and engage with the cops on the night of the deadly beating despite their yelling and threatening behaviour towards him.
Mr. Nichols, 29, enjoyed skateboarding in his spare time and was an amateur photographer. The largest employer in the city, FedEx, employed him.
In the incident’s video, Mr. Nichols can be heard telling the officers, “You guys are really doing a lot right now,” as they hold him down and threaten to stun him with a Taser. At one point, Mr. Nichols warned them, “I’m on the ground,” as they yelled commands and threats.
Tyre was de-escalating and making every effort to maintain calm while everyone else was escalating the situation and utilising excessive force, according to Mr. Crump. Tyre was exactly like that.
According to Mr. Crump, the aggressive enforcement tactics used by units like Scorpion, which mostly patrolled Black neighbourhoods, were to blame for Mr. Nichols’ murder.
He declared, “That’s all. The Scorpion squad had a pattern and practise of doing this to Black individuals in Memphis. “They violate Black and Brown citizens’ constitutional and human rights. In white areas, they don’t treat white residents in that way.
Mr. Nichols’ mother made a commitment to attend each court appearance during the same news conference. She noted that in the courtroom that morning, the five officers had refused to give her even a glance.
“They didn’t even have the courage to look at me in my face after what they did to my son,” his mother, RowVaughn Wells, said.
She claimed to feel numb.
I’m waiting for someone to wake me up from this nightmare I’m now experiencing, she remarked. “But, I also realise that won’t happen. I am aware that my son is dead and that I will never see him again.