Tyre Nichols, a Black motorist, passed away on Thursday as a result of injuries he got in a violent altercation that followed a traffic check, according to prosecutors, who have charged five former Memphis police officers with murder.
Five former Memphis police officers charged with murder of Black Motorist
Nichols, a 29-year-old father, died while hospitalized on Jan. 10, three days after the confrontation during his arrest by the five police officers.
Body worn camera footage of an incident resembles video of beating of Black motorist Rodney King by Los Angeles Police more than 30 years ago
Officials were expected on Friday evening to release police body-worn camera video of the incident, which a lawyer for Nichols’ family likened to the notorious footage of Los Angeles police officers beating Black motorist Rodney King more than 30 years ago.
Shelby County Attorney Steve Mulroy stated,
“We’re here today because of a tragedy that wounds one family deeply but also hurts us all,”
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Five Black Police Officers charged
The five officers, who are all Black, were each charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression, Mulroy said.
The Memphis Police Department on Friday identified them as Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr., and Justin Smith. They range in age from 24 to 32 and each served on the department for about 2 1/2 to five years.
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Police Officers dismissed from Police Force
After an internal inquiry discovered they had broken several departmental rules, including employing excessive force, neglecting to intervene, and failing to offer help, they were fired from the force last Saturday. Records from the county jail showed that they were brought into custody on Thursday morning.
Nichols stopped and was doused with pepper spray by police officers
Despite the murder accusations, the district attorney claimed that there were few other information regarding what happened before Nichols’ fatal run-in with the law.
When Nichols was stopped, there was “an argument” in which police deployed pepper spray on the driver and Nichols attempted to run away on foot, according to Mulroy, who used a lot of ellipses to describe what happened next.
The prosecutor stated,
“There was another altercation at a nearby location at which the serious injuries were experienced by Mr. Nichols,”
Nichols “complained of experiencing a shortness of breath,” according to the initial Memphis Police Department statement about the death, and an ambulance was called. Nichols was then brought to a hospital in critical condition.
When asked about the legitimacy of the initial traffic stop, Mulroy indicated he would not comment. He stated that more evidence would be gathered and that he would not rule out more charges.
Widespread Reaction
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s David Rausch expressed his disgust at what he observed in the bodycam videos during the news conference.
“What happened here does not at all reflect proper policing,” he said. “This was wrong. This was criminal.”
It was impossible to contact the former officers for comment.
At a different press conference, Mills’ attorney, Blake Ballin, stated that his client was “devastated to discover himself charged with a felony.”
Martin’s attorney William Massey joined Ballin; both attorneys stated that they had not yet viewed the tape and were still formulating their defences. They claimed that their clients were each paying a bond in order to be let out of custody on Thursday.
According to their attorneys, Mills and Martin both planned to enter a not guilty plea. The suspects’ initial court appearance may not happen for another two weeks, according to Ballin, because they were indicted by a grand jury.
As per Police Chief Cerelyn Davis, investigations into further Memphis police officers’ alleged policy violations continue. She pleaded for peace when the public sees the police video in a message published on YouTube.
“I expect you to feel what the Nichols family feels,” she said. “I expect you to feel outrage in the disregard of basic human rights.”
Even US President Joe Biden is remorseful
Nichols’ passing “is a terrible reminder that we must do more to ensure that our criminal justice system lives up to the promise of fair and impartial justice, equitable treatment, and dignity for all,” according to U.S. President Joe Biden in a statement.
Public Outcry against systematic racism in US
The death of Nichols was the most recent in a string of high-profile incidents involving police officers who were allegedly involved in the deaths of Black people and other minorities as a result of excessive force use in recent years, prompting public outcries against systemic racism in the American criminal justice system.
Following the May 2020 murder of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than 9 minutes after he was apprehended on suspicion of trying to pass a counterfeit banknote, protests against racial injustice erupted all across the world.
On Monday, the Nichols family saw the police footage with their lawyer, Ben Crump, who linked it to the 1991 videotaped beating of Rodney King by four police officers, whose subsequent acquittal of all charges set off three days of rioting in Los Angeles.
Crump and Colleague Antonio Romanucci said in a statement;
“This young man lost his life in a particularly disgusting manner that points to the desperate need for change and reform to ensure this violence stops occurring during low-threat procedures, like in this case, a traffic stop,”
Nichols’ three times-stated request for his mother can be heard as the last words on the film, according to Crump.
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