Tyre Nichols

Body cam footage of the brutal arrest in Memphis of the Black man has sparked protests in several cities. The five ex-officers involved face a litany of ...

"This tragedy meets the absolute definition of a needless and unnecessary death. She called it a professional failing and said "the incident was heinous, reckless and inhumane." In Memphis, a group of demonstrators gathered at a downtown park and then took to the streets, shutting down the I-55 bridge over the Mississippi River between Memphis and West Memphis. "Yet again, we're seeing evidence of what happens to Black and brown people from simple traffic stops," Crump said. Later, officers are seen repeatedly kicking, punching and using a baton to strike Nichols as he lies on the ground. During the initial confrontation, Nichols fled the scene of the traffic stop, police said. needs a great deal of reform. 8 ](https://twitter.com/MEM_PoliceDept/status/1612057507937095680)that Nichols was taken into custody after a traffic stop that involved two confrontations with officers. In the videos, officers are seen dragging Nichols from his car and shouting profanities throughout the confrontation. [The Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/tyre-nichols-profile-memphis-3104f3cdbaf568daf6647eca080d4001). After attempting to flee on foot, Nichols was aggressively beaten by police, newly released police video shows. 7 for what police said was reckless driving.

The video of Memphis police beating Tyre Nichols challenges public complacency — and complicity. What are our duties as citizens and as human beings?

You feel the frenzy of the chase and the impact of bodies as Mr. We see the violence from the point of view of a perpetrator. The semi-intelligible voices on the radio, the blend of jargon and profanity in the officers’ conversation, their mixture of weariness and bravado — all of this is familiar. The officers in that case were acquitted, and unrest swept the city. Nichols’s anguish — and to the cameras that recorded it. That is the dilemma that Ms. Violence, very much including the actions of the police, is a fixture of popular culture, and has been since long before the invention of video. Her appeal to common humanity expressed faith in the power of even the most horrific images to foster empathy and community — and faith in the human capacity to experience outrage and compassion when shown such images. I’m not saying that looking at the video of Mr. The legal and political reasons for doing so, at the urging of Mr. Raw video offers clarity, transparency and perhaps accountability — a chance for citizens to understand the unvarnished truth about what happened on the night of Jan. The video of Memphis police beating Tyre Nichols challenges public complacency — and complicity.

Nichols was an avid skateboarder from Sacramento, California, and came to Memphis just before the coronavirus pandemic and got stuck.

Jang said Nichols was so moved by it that he pulled out his flip phone and dropped it in a cup of water. His website, called This California Kid, starts with an invitation: “Welcome to the world through my eyes.” Afterwards, Spates said his wife commented, “He’s got such a good spirit and soul and calm presence.” He was just a few minutes from the home he shared with his mother and stepfather, when he was The two hadn’t seen each other in awhile, but Jang said Nichols came up behind him and gave him a big hug as the two caught up. “What drew me to Tyre was just — he’s real,” Curtis Chapman said. But he was damn near,” his mother, RowVaughn Wells, said at a news conference this week, moments after she watched the video of her son being beaten. But when Niko Chapman was 10 years old, his parents would let him walk to the park alone as long as they knew Nichols was there. “He just always made me feel really welcome.” Nichols, a 29-year-old father, was on his way home from taking pictures of the sky on Jan. He preferred landscapes and loved the glow of sunsets most, his family has said. “People have a story to tell, why not capture it.”

The five disgraced former Memphis Police Department officers, who are also Black, have been fired and charged with murder and other crimes in Nichols' death ...

An officer then punches him in the face, as the officer with the baton continues to menace him. In one of the videos, an officer claims that during the initial traffic stop Nichols reached for the officer's gun before fleeing and almost had his hand on the handle, which is not shown in the video. After Nichols is in handcuffs and leaning against a police car, several officers say that he must have been high. During a speech Saturday in Harlem, the Rev. The officer said that when Nichols pulled up to a red light, the officers jumped out of the car. The officer strikes Nichols on the back with the baton three times in a row. During the wait for an ambulance, officers joked and aired grievances. “It is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate the Scorpion unit,” she said in a statement. Nichols slumps more fully onto the pavement with all three officers surrounding him. Other officers are called, and a search ensues before Nichols is caught at another intersection. Nichols can then be seen running as an officer fires a Taser at him. Several dozen demonstrators in Memphis blocked the Interstate 55 bridge that carries traffic over the Mississippi River toward Arkansas.

The so-called Scorpion special unit will be disbanded after its officers were seen beating Mr Nichols.

The Scorpion programme was touted by Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland in a speech a year ago. If the system is broken, she added, the only way to fix it is to start again. "Memphis is taking a stand," said Casio Montez, one of the protest organisers. But she acknowledged that the officers who brutally beat Tyre Nichols "decided to go off the rails". He died in hospital three days later, on 10 January. "We are doing an individual evaluation of all units," she said.

Mr. Nichols's family and activists had demanded the scuttling of the group, the Scorpion unit, which patrolled high-crime areas of the city.

Mr. All of the officers, who are also Black, were fired after an internal investigation found they had used excessive force and had failed to intervene or render aid, as the agency’s policy required them to do. Mom!

The five Memphis Police Department officers involved in the arrest have been fired and charged with second-degree murder and other crimes.

An officer then punches him in the face, as the officer with the baton continues to menace him. In one of the videos, an officer claims that during the initial traffic stop Nichols reached for the officer's gun before fleeing and almost had his hand on the handle, which is not shown in the video. As Nichols is slumped up against a car, not one of the officers renders aid. After Nichols is in handcuffs and leaning against a police car, several officers say that he must have been high. The officer strikes Nichols on the back with the baton three times in a row. The officer said that when Nichols pulled up to a red light, the officers jumped out of the car. Nichols slumps more fully onto the pavement with all three officers surrounding him. The officer who punched him then walks around to Nichols’ front and punches him four more times. Other officers are called, and a search ensues before Nichols is caught at another intersection. Nichols can then be seen running as an officer fires a Taser at him. The recording shows police savagely beating Nichols, a 29-year-old FedEx worker, for three minutes while screaming profanities at him throughout the attack. Demonstrators at times blocked traffic while chanting slogans and marching through the streets of New York City, Los Angeles, California, and Portland, Oregon.

The five officers charged in connection to Nichols' fatal beating were all part of the Scorpion unit.

and Canada, to open probes into cities that use similar tactics. - "While the heinous actions of a few casts a cloud of dishonor on the title SCORPION," Memphis Police and officers assigned to the unit "agree unreservedly with this next step." What to watch: Crump and Romanucci have urged the Department of Justice and the Major Cities Chiefs Association, an organization of police executives in the U.S. [special unit Scorpion](https://www.axios.com/2023/01/28/tyre-nichols-memphis-police-scorpion) in the wake of [murder charges](https://www.axios.com/2023/01/26/memphis-police-charged-tyre-nichols-death) brought against five of its members in connection to Tyre Nichols' death. - "In the process of listening intently to the family of Tyre Nichols, community leaders, and the uninvolved officers who have done quality work in their assignments, it is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate the SCORPION Unit," the statement reads. [announcement](https://twitter.com/MEM_PoliceDept/status/1619446919683796992) comes less than 24 hours after the city released police bodycam and security surveillance footage that showed multiple officers [kicking, punching and striking Nichols](https://www.axios.com/2023/01/28/memphis-police-tyre-nichols-arrest-footage) with a baton as he screamed for help and pleaded for them to stop.

As public officials and others condemned the actions they viewed, initial reactions from protesters around the country were largely peaceful.

“I can’t believe no one thought ‘we don’t have to keep beating this man.,’” Nino Brown, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, said at a vigil for Mr. Mayor Darrell Steinberg said the video filled him with “anger, sorrow and revulsion,” Kathy Lester, the city’s police chief, called the actions of the Memphis officers “inhumane and inexcusable,” and the Sacramento County sheriff, Jim Cooper, said the “horrendous acts displayed by these few officers do not reflect the values of this office or law enforcement as a whole.” In Memphis, for days before the video release, city officials, civic leaders and Mr. “That faith is what we will lean on in the coming days, weeks and months to ensure the totality of circumstances is revealed.” On Saturday, officials with the Memphis Police announced that the department was deactivating the unit. As police departments around the country responded, law enforcement officials said actions shown in the video defied what officers are trained to do. “The video is all the horrific things that were described to us,” said Josh Spickler, the executive director of Just City, a civil rights organization in Memphis, referring to days of warnings from law enforcement officials and Mr. Mills, said in a statement that the videos have “produced as many questions as they have answers.” The officers, according to the video, escalated their use of physical force and gave conflicting orders, repeatedly demanding that Mr. Separately, the Memphis Fire Department said that two of its employees were also being investigated for their actions at the scene. and Justin Smith — had been fired from the Memphis Police Department after an internal investigation found they had used excessive force and failed to intervene or render aid, as the agency’s policy required them to do. Officials said minor acts of vandalism were committed during a protest outside the Los Angeles Police Department’s headquarters, which was blocked by police in riot gear.

The death of Nichols, 29, after being beaten by police in Memphis, Tennessee, during a traffic stop has prompted outrage.

[officers are charged](https://apnews.com/article/tyre-nichols-police-officers-charged-48d48f2137a2f34482274edb1bd1bab2) with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush said that Congress must take action, arguing “charging the officers who brutalized Tyre is not enough”. Memphis police claimed in a statement that officers tried to stop a man for reckless driving on 7 January and he was brought to hospital in critical condition following two confrontations. Five Black officers involved in the incident were fired and [charged](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/26/tyre-nichols-five-ex-police-officers-custody) Thursday with murder. [Tyre Nichols](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/26/memphis-police-tyre-nichols-death-what-we-know), a Black man, died several days after Memphis, Tennessee police repeatedly beat him following a 7 January traffic stop. 26 January They describe the footage as showing a “savage” three-minute interaction that recalled the notorious 1991 police beating of Black Los Angeles driver Rodney King. They tell media that Nichols was restrained, pepper-sprayed, and “was a human piñata for those police officers”. Nichols’ stepfather, Rodney Wells, told reporters that his stepson suffered kidney failure and cardiac arrest because of the beatdown. All of these officers are Black. After the officers drag Nichols out of his car, and position him against the ground, he gets up and runs away. 7 January

Experts in policing say there was shocking officer misconduct revealed in police videos of Tyre Nichols' arrest. They say officers in Memphis had an ...

The unit was launched in 2021 to reduce violent crime and the number of violent hot spots in the city. "There's a lot of things that could have been done at a very basic level without any sophisticated equipment, but you didn't see anybody trying to render aid, trying to comfort him," Stinson said. "This was somebody that they could have taken into custody, in handcuffs, very quickly had they chosen to do so." Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis [said ](https://twitter.com/MEM_PoliceDept/status/1616595013927845889?s=20&t=j0kKAMjkzWau3epTHxVZiw)the five officers violated multiple department policies, including excessive use of force, duty to intervene and duty to render aid. "It was not a normal traffic stop," he told NPR. It took more than 20 minutes for an ambulance to arrive. They were part of a specialized unit known as Street Crimes Operations to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods, or SCORPION. He described the lack of care as a "complete callous disregard and indifference to the value of human life." At one point, an officer tried to deploy a Taser at Nichols and then began chasing him on foot. Officers repeatedly kicked, punched and used a baton to strike Nichols as he lay on the ground. "All of the blows to the head were the application of deadly force," he said. "I'm just trying to go home," Nichols could be heard saying on the videos.

The Scorpion unit has been deactivated after video was released of the brutal beating of the 29-year-old at the hands of officers.

“It is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate the Scorpion unit,” she said in a statement. It had been inactive since Nichols’ 7 January arrest. The Scorpion unit is composed of three teams of about 30 officers whose stated aim is to target violent offenders in areas beset by high crime.

A day after the public release of video showing the horrific police beating of Tyre Nichols, the Memphis police department announced it is permanently ...

Nichols’ family, the City of Memphis, and the rest of the country deserve nothing less.” “We have to do better, this is unacceptable.” President Joe Biden said he was “outraged and deeply pained” after seeing the video. “That faith is what we will lean on in the coming days, weeks, and months to ensure the totality of circumstances is revealed,” according to a statement. “The officers currently assigned to the unit agree unreservedly with this next step,” police said. It extends so much further,” the attorneys said in a joint statement. In New York, skirmishes broke out between several protesters and police officers as demonstrators crowded Times Square, video posted to social media shows. Several cities also saw demonstrations Saturday, including New York City, where a group of protesters marched about two miles from Washington Square in Lower Manhattan to Times Square in Midtown. There were no arrests stemming from the demonstration, police said. Nichols was later hospitalized and died three days later. We really need to investigate and find out what’s going on.” He required hospitalization and died on January 10.

The footage shows a brutal beating but we still don't know why officers decided to stop his car.

For several minutes, police punched and kicked him, in the body and the head, while Mr Nichols cried for his mother. We don't know how long it is before Mr Nichols is taken to hospital. There is no known evidence that this was the case, and later in the video, officers say they did not find anything in his car. "You guys are really doing a lot right now," Mr Nichols says to the officers. The footage did show the harrowing events that led to Mr Nichols' death, but many questions still remain. Police Chief Cerelyn Davis, who is the first black woman to serve in the role, told the BBC she was shocked.

Many in the city where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated over five decades ago are struggling to understand how five Black officers could be behind ...

“But I started noticing that the Black officers are more aggressive than the White officers.” That feeling, however, does not extend to the Black police officers who monitor his city streets. “When the police don’t set an example, and follow rules and regulations, how can they expect the people that live in the city to follow the rules and regulations?” Johnson said. The 37-year-old, born in Memphis, wanted to work for the civil rights museum in part to learn more about history. That looks gang related and looks just like what the little kids are doing these days.” The Memphis police department announced they were [disbanding ](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/01/28/tyre-nichols-memphis-video/?itid=lk_inline_manual_32)it Saturday afternoon. Willie Moore, 74, and one of Memphis’s best-known Black business owners, said when he was a young man, Black police officers in Memphis were not allowed to carry weapons in White neighborhoods or arrest White residents suspected of committing crimes. [Scorpion](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/01/27/scorpion-tyre-nichols-memphis-death/?itid=lk_inline_manual_32), which was created in late 2021 with the goal of increasing police presence in high-crime neighborhoods at a time when homicides were surging in the city. “The real reason people disrespect Black people, is that they don’t have no power,” Moore said. [1971](https://www.localmemphis.com/article/news/local/elton-hayes-to-tyre-nichols-history-of-police-brutality-and-reform-mpd/522-4dd45adf-3f10-46f4-a33f-43a3c32cbef6), a 17-year-old Black man was fatally beaten by Memphis police officers and Shelby County Sheriff deputies after a high-speed chase. Others noted that progress in diversifying Memphis’s police department hasn’t translated into better relationships with the communities they patrol. Officials across the country braced for violence after police released footage Friday of the five officers — who have been charged with second-degree murder — brutally beating Nichols, 29 years old and unarmed.

In early January, Nichols died after Memphis police officers stopped him for reckless driving during a routine traffic stop.

Attorneys for two of the officers said their clients plan to plead not guilty. “I just think about the fact that I’ll never see my son again. I’ll never see that smile again. 7, police initially said in a statement. I felt like that is that was such a beautiful thing to capture and share.” On Twitter, more than 1,500 users have re-shared the video. In the nearly 2-minute clip, Nichols can be seen skateboarding in a variety of settings, including against a bright sunset, and performing tricks on his board. "Before the Memphis Police Dept. 28.](https://twitter.com/FlyMai16/status/1619362709002387461) Nichols, 29, brutally died following a traffic stop on Jan. [clip](https://twitter.com/FlyMai16/status/1619362709002387461) wrote on Jan. Before Memphis Police publicly released the graphic footage of his death on Jan.

Protesters once again took to the streets to decry police brutality over the weekend after the release of video depicting the violent Memphis police beating ...

The online frundraiser was created by Nichols’ mother and reads in part: “My baby was just trying to make it home to be safe in my arms. He was a “good boy” who spent his Sundays doing laundry and getting ready for the week, his mother said. Tyre was unarmed, nonthreatening, and respectful to police during the entire encounter!” [SCORPION unit](https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/tyre-nichols-memphis-news-1-28-23/h_8f07e0604d95b0cdbdce2a2f89f89838), Memphis police spokesperson Maj. “We have to fight the bad players in our community, and now we’ve got to fight our own police officers. If a dog in this county was beaten like that, what the hell would happen?” Towns said. Hardaway, who represents a portion of Memphis and Shelby County. The bills will seek to address mental health care for law enforcement officers, hiring, training, discipline practices and other topics, said Rep. [ relatively swift](http://www.cnn.com/2023/01/26/us/tyre-nichols-timeline-investigation/index.html). He applauded Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis for arresting and charging the officers within 20 days. “To see the events unfold how they’ve unfolded, with this Tyre Nichols situation, is heartbreaking. The [unit they were part of was disbanded](https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/28/us/tyre-nichols-protests-saturday/index.html), and state lawmakers representing the Memphis area began planning police reform bills.

Joe Mazzulla took time before the game to speak on Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old who was senselessly beaten by five Memphis police officers during a Jan. 7...

I pray for their family in real prayer, just praying for their grief and for their understanding of the situation, and to open up my heart. "So our Celtics organization grieves for that and we pray for that. The five Memphis police officers responsible for Nichols' death have been fired, arrested, and charged for the brutal beating. And so I just wanted to share that." "On behalf of the Celtics, and my family in particular, I want to pray for Tyre Nichols' soul," Mazzulla said. Mazzulla took time before the game to speak on Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old who was senselessly beaten by five Memphis police officers during a Jan.