Tyre Nichols, was a 29-year-old Black FedEx worker. He was also a father who had a young son and loved photographing sunsets and skateboarding. He was beaten by Memphis police officers for roughly three minutes on the evening of Jan. 7, 2023.
After he was stopped for what the police initially said was reckless driving. The stop escalated into a violent confrontation that ended with Nichol hospitalized in critical condition. Three days later, he died.
Nichols had run toward his mother’s home, crying out for her as he was beaten.
Five (now) former Memphis police officers were charged with federal civil rights violations in the beating death of Tyre Nichols as they continue to battle second-degree murder charges in state courts arising from the killing. The U.S. District Court located in Memphis issued an indictment against Darius Bean, Desmond Mills, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin, and Justin Smith. Each of them is charged in the four-count indictment with deprivation of rights under color of law, conspiracy to tamper with witnesses, obstruction of justice through tampering with witnesses, and excessive force and failure to act.
The video, taken from a body camera and surveillance footage, begins as the traffic stop was already underway. Police officers approach Nichols’s car yelling with their guns raised, open his car door, and pull him out of the vehicle. Nichols is heard saying that he “didn’t do anything.”
The Evidence and Reaction
The video shows that eight minutes later, he was pursued into a suburban neighborhood, where officers began severely beating him. They are seen kicking Nichol in the head when he is on the ground and pulling him back up. Another officer uses an extendable baton to hit him several times.
The cops are slated to head to state criminal trial in mid-August 2024, According to Shelby County Criminal Court Judge James Jones Jr. Caught on police video, the beating of Nichols was one in a string of violent encounters between police and Black people that sparked protests and renewed debate about police brutality and police reform in the U.S.
The Justice Department announced an investigation in July into how Memphis Police Department officers use force and conduct arrests, one of several “patterns and practices” investigations it has undertaken in other U.S. cities.
As for what prompted the traffic stop, Bean’s bodycam recorded another officer saying that Nichols “drove into oncoming traffic” and “swerved like he’s going to hit my car” after they turned on sirens and ordered him to stop. However, the same officer also said Nichols “stopped at the red light and put his turn signal on.”
Police Claims
Nevertheless, Much of their comments suggest officers and paramedics appeared fixated on the idea that he was high on drugs. Medics administered Naloxone to reverse a potential opioid overdose as Nichols slouched, unresponsive, after officers propped him up against a car. One emergency medical technician even claimed, “He’s not injured. He’s just high.”
Nichols’ autopsy later detected only low levels of alcohol and THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in his system. Two EMTs and a fire lieutenant were fired in the Nichols case. Some officers appeared perplexed that no drugs were in the car Nichols was driving. One suggested he could have thrown something while he was running.
The police added that once they left to go after him, Nichols reportedly ran on foot toward his house, less than a block from where the brutal assault would take place.
The Authority of a Lt. Dewayne Smith
Even though Nichols seemed to be obeying their instructions, other cops recorded themselves claiming that Nichols had attempted to take an officer’s gun—something that is not evident in any of the videos—and that he had resisted being taken into custody.
Mills’ body camera also recorded how he and his superior officer spoke to Nichols’ mother and stepfather. When the stepfather answered the door and asked what Nichols was in custody for, Lt. Dewayne Smith appeared not to know until Mills said “DUI.” Then the lieutenant repeated the allegation; “DUI.”
As they walked away, from an interaction with Nichols’ mother and stepfather informing them that they believed he was on drugs and with the paramedics that he would also be going to jail after the medical car. Mills told the lieutenant he believed the parents “know more than what they are saying” and seemed suspicious because they didn’t open their screen door. Then he said, “I just hope … he just needs to make it, that’s all. He needs to make it. He ain’t looking too good.”
By Jada Dunknetell
pbs: 5 former police officers charged in death of Tyre Nichols now facing federal charges
npr: Newly released recordings reveal what officers said after Tyre Nichols’ fatal beating
justice: Former Memphis Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Federal Civil Rights and Conspiracy Charges in Connection with Death of Tyre Nichols
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Elvert Barnes’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image #1 Courtesy of Fibonacci Blue‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image #2 Courtesy of Fibonacci Blue Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
