Tyre Nichols was killed by five Memphis police officers following a traffic stop on Jan. 7.
Tyre Nichols, a father of a 4-year-old son, was known to his family as an avid skateboarder and nature photographer from Sacramento, Calif.He arrived in Memphis just before the pandemic, and later started a job with FedEx.
The youngest of four siblings, he was especially close with his mother. “He has a tattoo of my name on his arm,” she said. “My son loved me to death, and I love him to death.” At a press conference Friday, Wells said, “No mother, no mother, no mother, should go through what I’m going though right now, no mother, lo lose their child to the violent way I lost my child.”
He has been described by friends and family as joyful and spiritual, and he was an avid skateboarder and photographer.
“This man walked into a room, and everyone loved him,” said Angelina Paxton, a friend who attended his memorial service.
Nichols grew up in Sacramento before moving to Memphis, where he lived with his mother and stepfather. Friends from his teenage years in California spoke to CBS Sacramento about how much joy he brought to those around him.
“He was one of those people who made everyone around them happy,” Nichols’ step-grandmother Lucille Washington said at a memorial service.
It took 26 minutes for a stretcher to appear at the spot where Tyre Nichols was slumped over on the ground after a Memphis police officer was first seen appearing to kick him in the face.
Thousands protest Tyre Nichols’ death in cities across the US https://t.co/WRN4Ha9mqE pic.twitter.com/cTDJHcjXDN
— The Hill (@thehill) January 30, 2023
Martin Luther King III, human rights activist and son of Martin Luther King Jr, tweeted: “I am deeply disturbed by the video released by Memphis Police today. We all witnessed a horrific yet perversely familiar act committed by officers of the law. Everyone involved must be arrested & charged with the murder of Tyre Nichols. His family and our nation deserve justice.”
I am deeply disturbed by the video released by Memphis Police today. We all witnessed a horrific yet perversely familiar act committed by officers of the law. Everyone involved must be arrested & charged with the murder of Tyre Nichols. His family and our nation deserve justice.
— Martin Luther King III (@OfficialMLK3) January 28, 2023
Former Wonder Woman star Lynda Carter tweeted: “What happened to #TyreNichols is an epidemic. We don’t just need justice for one case, but the moral courage to change the system.”
What happened to #TyreNichols is an epidemic. We don’t just need justice for one case, but the moral courage to change the system. https://t.co/pQ7VSa5nhU
— Lynda Carter (@RealLyndaCarter) January 28, 2023
Memphis Police release video of deadly Tyre Nichols beating
One day after the release of shocking video which showed the violent arrest of Tyre Nichols, The Memphis Police Department ‘permanently deactivated’ its SCORPION unit. All five former officers involved in Nichols’ arrest were part of the SCORPION unit. A grand jury returned indictments on Thursday against the five officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith — with charges that include kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression, in addition to second-degree murder, prosecutors said.
One day after the release of shocking video which showed the violent arrest of Tyre Nichols earlier this month, The Memphis Police Department Saturday ‘permanently deactivated’ its SCORPION unit.
The unit—whose name stands for Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods—was launched in November 2021 to tackle crime rates in Memphis, with forty officers comprising four teams.
A grand jury returned indictments on Thursday against the five officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith — with charges that include kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression, in addition to second-degree murder, prosecutors said.
BREAKING: The 5 former Memphis Police Department officers have been indicted by a grand jury on charges ranging from second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression for the death of Tyre Nichols. pic.twitter.com/mkPLf4CCHU
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) January 26, 2023
Hunter Dempster, an organizer with Decarcerate Memphis, a group pushing for accountability in the criminal justice system, said on Sunday that his organization has long been warning about the Scorpion team. He said the unit’s main mission had appeared to be conducting mass pullovers in poor neighborhoods that are home to many people of color.
Another organizer with Decarcerate Memphis Chelsea Glass, which advocates for reform of the criminal justice system, said Scorpion was a “rebranding” of a common police tactic: a street crime-fighting team that relied on low-level traffic stops as pretexts to find violent criminals and weapons.
“They harass everyday residents, and they’re calling this high-level policing,” Glass said. “But it’s really just stop-and-frisk on wheels. It doesn’t matter what name you slap on it.”
Keedran Franklin, another Memphis community organizer, said Scorpion was like other specialized police units — including the county-run Multi-Agency Gang Unit — in that the officers seemed to stoke fear and distrust by the way they confronted people.
“The way they move in unmarked cars, looking like regular guys, bumping to rap music, they got on hoodies, they’re really looking the part, like they’re a part of the community, but they’re police,” Franklin said. “Then someone maybe slips up, smokes weed or doesn’t have their seat belt on or a headlight is out, and they jump out and stop them and want to go through their car.”
“They’re their own internal little gang,” Franklin added. “When they turn them loose on the streets, how does that affect ordinary citizens?”
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On January 30, the Memphis Police Department announced that a sixth officer, Preston Hemphill, had been placed on administrative leave on the same day that the officers at the scene were fired. Body camera footage shows that Hemphill fired a stun gun at Nichols at the initial stop. “I hope they stomp his ass,” he says on camera.
