February 3, 2023 at 7:20 PM
The Associated Press reports "A 6th Memphis police officer has been fired after the beating death of Tyre Nichols"
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A sixth Memphis officer was fired Friday after an internal police investigation showed he violated multiple department policies in the violent arrest of Tyre Nichols, including rules surrounding the deployment of a stun gun, officials said.
Preston Hemphill had been suspended as he was investigated for his role in the Jan. 7 arrest of Nichols, who died in a hospital three days later. Five Memphis officers have already been fired and charged with second-degree murder in Nichols' death.
Nichols was beaten after police stopped him for what they said was a traffic violation. Video released after pressure from Nichols' family shows officers holding him down and repeatedly punching, kicking and striking him with a baton as he screamed for his mother.
The officers who have been fired and charged are Black, as was Nichols. Hemphill is white. One other officer has been suspended, but has not been identified.
Hemphill was the third officer at the traffic stop that preceded the arrest but was not at the location where Nichols was beaten after he ran away.
On body camera footage from the initial stop, Hemphill is heard saying that he used a stun gun against Nichols and declaring, "I hope they stomp his ass."
Along with breaking rules regarding the use of a stun gun, Hemphill was also fired for violations of personal conduct and truthfulness, police said in a statement.
Police announced Hemphill's suspension on Jan. 30, but they said Hemphill was actually suspended shortly after the arrest.
Memphis police spokeswoman Karen Rudolph has said information about Hemphill's suspension was not immediately released because Hemphill had not been fired. The department generally gives out information about an officer's punishment only after a department investigation into misconduct ends, Rudolph said.
After the suspension was announced, lawyers for Nichols' family questioned why the department did not disclose Hemphill's discipline earlier.
"We have asked from the beginning that the Memphis Police Department be transparent with the family and the community — this news seems to indicate that they haven't risen to the occasion," attorneys Ben Crump and Anthony Romanucci said in a statement. "It certainly begs the question why the white officer involved in this brutal attack was shielded and protected from the public eye, and to date, from sufficient discipline and accountability."
Also Friday, a Tennessee board suspended the emergency medical technician licenses of two former Memphis Fire Department employees for failing to render critical care.
The suspensions of EMT Robert Long and advanced EMT JaMichael Sandridge build on efforts by authorities to hold officers and other first responders accountable for the violence against Nichols. The Justice Department has opened a civil rights probe into the attack that was captured on video.
Three fire department employees were fired after Nichols died. Former fire department Lt. Michelle Whitaker was the third employee let go, but her license was not considered for suspension Friday. The department has said she remained in the engine with the driver during the response to Nichols' beating.
Emergency Medical Services Board member Jeff Beaman said during Friday's emergency meeting that there may have been other licensed personnel on scene — including a supervisor — who could have prevented the situation that led to the death of Nichols. Beaman said he hopes the board addresses those in the future.
Matt Gibbs, an attorney for the state Department of Health, said the two suspensions were "not final disposition of this entire matter."
Board members watched 19 minutes of surveillance video that showed Long and Sandridge as they failed to care for Nichols, who couldn't stay seated upright against the side of the vehicle, laying prone on the ground multiple times. They also considered an affidavit by the Memphis Fire Department's EMS deputy chief.
"The (state) Department (of Health) alleges that neither Mr. Sandridge nor Mr. Long engaged in emergency care and treatment to patient T.N., who was clearly in distress during the 19 minute period," Gibbs said.
Board member Sullivan Smith said it was "obvious to even a lay person" that Nichols "was in terrible distress and needed help."
"And they failed to provide that help," Smith said. "They were his best shot, and they failed to help."
Fire Chief Gina Sweat has said the department received a call from police after someone was pepper-sprayed. When the workers arrived at 8:41 p.m., Nichols was handcuffed on the ground and slumped against a squad car, the statement said.
Long and Sandridge, based on the nature of the call and information they were told by police, "failed to conduct an adequate patient assessment of Mr. Nichols," the statement said.
There was no immediate response to a voicemail seeking comment left at a number listed for Long. A person who answered a phone call to a number listed for Sandridge declined to comment on the board's decision.
An ambulance was called, and it arrived at 8:55 p.m., the statement said. An emergency unit cared for Nichols and left for a hospital with him at 9:08 p.m., which was 27 minutes after Long, Sandridge and Whitaker arrived, officials said.
An investigation determined that all three violated multiple policies and protocols, the statement said, adding that "their actions or inactions on the scene that night do not meet the expectations of the Memphis Fire Department."
The fired officers involved were part of the so-called Scorpion unit, which targeted violent criminals in high-crime areas. Police Chief Cerelyn "CJ" Davis said after the video's release that the unit has been disbanded.
Mayor Jim Strickland said Friday that the city has ordered up a review of its police department – including special units and use-of-force policies – through the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, through the Collaborative Reform Initial Technical Assistant Center program, and the International Association of Police Chiefs. The COPS group is also aiding a review of the law enforcement response to the Uvalde, Texas, elementary school shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead.
The killing led to renewed public discussion of how police forces can treat Black residents with excessive violence, regardless of the race of both the police officers and those being policed.
At Nichols' funeral on Wednesday, calls for reform and justice were interwoven with grief over the loss of a man remembered as a son, a sibling, a father and a passionate photographer and skateboarder.
Click here to view this article.
_______________________________________________________
February 2, 2023 at 6:19 AM
On Morning Edition, Katie Riordan from WKNO-FM reports "Family and civil rights leaders honored Tyre Nichols at a public funeral in Memphis"
Tyre Nichols' funeral was held Wednesday, roughly three weeks after he died following a beating by police that was caught on video and sparked protests and calls for accountability nationwide.
Click here to view this segment.
_______________________________________________________
February 1, 2023 at 11:00 PM
Sarah Smith from BBC News reports "Anger and hope for change at Tyre
Nichols funeral"
Amidst the grief and sadness at Tyre Nichols' funeral there was also palpable anger over the savage way in which he was beaten by officers, along with passionate appeals for police reform and legislative change.
Click here to read the entire article.
_______________________________________________________
February 1, 2023 at 6:00 PM
Brandon Drenon from BBC News reports "'Shameful and inhumane' - Black officers reckon with death of Tyre Nichols"
The death of Tyre Nichols has brought renewed focus on the issue of race and policing in the US. The 29-year-old died after a violent encounter with five black officers who have since been charged. The BBC spoke to serving and retired black officers about what happened - and what needs to change.
Click here to read the entire article.
_______________________________________________________
February 1, 2023 at 5:00 PM
Madeline Halpert from BBC News reports "A father 'gone too soon': Tyre Nichols funeral held in Memphis
"
Family, friends and civil rights leaders gathered in Memphis on Wednesday to mourn the death of 29-year-old father Tyre Nichol
Click here to view the entire article.
_______________________________________________________
February 1, 2023 at 4:30 PM
On All Things Considered, Adrian Florido from NPR reports "Tyre Nichols was remembered at his funeral in Memphis"
The funeral for Tyre Nichols was held in Memphis Wednesday. Nichols died three days after being beaten by police who pulled him over for a traffic stop.
Click here to view this segment.
_______________________________________________________
February 1, 2023 at 3:17 PM
BBC News reports "Decade-old footage of Tyre Nichols skating goes viral"
Tyre Nichols died after being beaten by police in Memphis.
Videos of him skating have resurfaced after more than a decade.
Click here to watch the video.
_________________________________________________
February 1, 2023 at 2:00 PM
Celebration of Life: Tyre Nichols
_______________________________________________________
February 1, 2023 at 3:21 PM
Joe Hernandez from NPR reports "Tyre Nichols' funeral in Memphis brings calls for justice"
The funeral for Tyre Nichols was held in Memphis on Wednesday, roughly three weeks after he died following a beating by police that was caught on video and sparked a wave of protests and calls for accountability nationwide.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who delivered the eulogy, called for justice for Nichols and lamented the fact that the 29-year-old Black man was killed in the same city where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968.
"Let me be clear, we understand that there are concerns about public safety. We understand that there are needs to deal with crime," Sharpton said. "But you don't fight crime by becoming criminals yourselves."
The afternoon service began with several musical performances and remarks from religious leaders, as photos of Nichols flashed across a screen.
"We have come to be of comfort and support to this family," said the Rev. J. Lawrence Turner, senior pastor of the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church.
"This family has endured the unsolicited, unwarranted, unreasonable, unjustifiable and massive burden of grieving their loved one and at the same time fighting for justice," Turner added.
Several of Nichols' siblings paid tribute to their brother, and his parents — his mother RowVaughn Wells and his stepfather Rodney Wells — also spoke.
"Tyre was a beautiful person, and for this to happen to him is just unimaginable," RowVaughn Wells said through tears.
"I promise you the only thing that's keeping me going is the fact that I really, truly believe my son was sent here on an assignment from God," she said. "And I guess now his assignment is done."
Vice President Kamala Harris praised Nichols' mother and stepfather for "your strength, your courage and your grace" and said people across the U.S. were also grieving the death of their son. "The people of our country mourn with you."
Harris added that Nichols' violent beating by police wasn't in the pursuit of public safety. "It was not in the interest of keeping the public safe, because one must ask, was not it in the interest of keeping the public safe that Tyre Nichols would be here with us today? Was he not also entitled to the right to be safe?"
Ben Crump, an attorney for Nichols' family, gave a "call to action," organizers said. Tamika Palmer, the mother of Breonna Taylor, and Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, were also in attendance.
Harris, Sharpton, Crump and Wells all called on federal lawmakers to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which stalled in the Senate in 2021 and would introduce major changes to policing across the U.S., including the elimination of qualified immunity for officers.
Services at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis were livestreamed on Facebookand YouTube.
Nichols died on Jan. 10, three days after he was brutally beaten by police during a traffic stop.
Body-camera video shows officers pull over Nichols on Jan. 7 on suspicion of reckless driving. They yank Nichols from his car and try to arrest him, but he flees.
When police finally catch up with him at a second location, officers kick him, hit him with a baton and repeatedly punch him in the head in a violent encounter also captured by a surveillance camera nearby.
Five Memphis police officers have been fired and charged with Nichols' murder, and two other officers are facing discipline. The city's fire department fired two EMTs and a lieutenant. The Memphis Police Department also disbanded the specialized unit whose officers beat Nichols.
Nichols' death has garnered national attention and drawn comparisons to other instances in which Black people have been killed at the hands of police, including Taylor and Floyd. President Biden said the video of officers beating Nichols left him "outraged and deeply pained."
An avid skateboarder, Nichols had a 4-year-old son, worked at FedEx with his stepfather and had a tattoo of his mother's name.
_______________________________________________________
February 1, 2023 at 1:34 PM
Joe Hernandez from NPR reports "Tyre Nichols is being laid to rest in Memphis on Wednesday"
The funeral for Tyre Nichols has gotten underway in Memphis, roughly three weeks after he died following a beating by police that was caught on video and sparked a wave of protests and calls for accountability nationwide.
The service Wednesday afternoon began with several musical performances and remarks from religious leaders, as photos of Nichols flashed across a screen.
"We have come to be of comfort and support to this family," said the Rev. J. Lawrence Turner, senior pastor of the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church.
"This family has endured the unsolicited, unwarranted, unreasonable, unjustifiable and massive burden of grieving their loved one and at the same time fighting for justice," Turner added.
The Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver Nichols' eulogy, and Ben Crump, an attorney for Nichols' family, will give a "call to action," organizers said.
Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to attend the funeral at the invitation of Nichols' family. Tamika Palmer, the mother of Breonna Taylor, and Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, are also expected.
Services at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis were being livestreamed on Facebookand YouTube.
Nichols died on Jan. 10, three days after he was brutally beaten by police during a traffic stop. He was 29.
Body-camera video shows officers pull over Nichols on Jan. 7 on suspicion of reckless driving. They yank Nichols from his car and try to arrest him, but he flees.
When police finally catch up with him at a second location, officers kick him, hit him with a baton and repeatedly punch him in the head in a violent encounter also captured by a surveillance camera nearby.
Five Memphis police officers have been fired and charged with Nichols' murder, and two other officers are facing discipline. The city's fire department fired two EMTs and a lieutenant. The Memphis Police Department also disbanded the specialized unit whose officers beat Nichols.
Nichols' death has garnered national attention and drawn comparisons to other instances in which Black people have been killed at the hands of police, including Taylor and Floyd. President Biden said the video of officers beating Nichols left him "outraged and deeply pained."
An avid skateboarder, Nichols had a 4-year-old son, worked at FedEx with his stepfather and had a tattoo of his mother's name.
Click here to view this article.
_______________________________________________________
February 1, 2023 at 12:16 PM
Christopher Blank from WKNO-FM reports "Scorpion Unit Had Little Oversight"
The Memphis police beating death of Tyre Nichols has drawn attention to the so-called "Scorpion" Unit involved. It has since been disbanded, but Marc Perrusquia, with the Institute for Public Service Reporting has been taking a deeper look into its recent history.
Q: After seeing these videos, I, for one, came away with the question: "how did these police officers have any legal grounds to yank somebody out of their car at a traffic stop?"
Perrusquia: Well, that's the 64,000 question. All this talk about MPD and the City being transparent... and they're getting all this credit nationwide: We still haven't seen everything. They haven't released everything. When that first video starts, it's Tyre Nichols' car stopped in the intersection at a red light. And you see Demetrius Haley come up and he's yelling at him, cursing at him, and then physically pulls him out of the car. So what precipitated that? We don't know.
Q: This unit was a response to the huge spike in crime — the record murder rate, the carjackings, the drag racing. Who was checking to make sure that what they were doing was constitutionally appropriate?
A: (Police Chief) C.J. Davis has said that, as part of her post-action criticism, that they have what she calls "supervisory gaps." That they have a huge problem with supervision. She gave some quote, something to the effect that they're woefully inadequate. And that she said she's asked the City for 150 new sergeant positions to act as field supervisors. That, to me, sounds like a crisis.
Q: You reported on Monday that the sixth officer that was suspended seen in the initial traffic stop was also a member of the Scorpion unit. What do you think is the importance of that?
A: The significance is that we know who these guys are, what they were doing. They were on this special unit that is highly criticized. These kinds of units — different police departments have them around the country — they do a lot of very aggressive policing in unmarked cars. Although their mission is to suppress violent crime, it seems in a lot of instances that they're out there harassing people. They're out there, driving around, looking for people who are loitering or driving with expired tags or tinted windows. It's kind of like a dragnet and they're just dragging all these people into this who may or may not be violent criminals. It's kind of a hit-and-miss kind of thing, and with a lot of very volatile interactions—dangerous situations that they seem to be creating with citizens.
Q: You've talked to a number of people in and around law enforcement about this unit. What were some of the red flags for them?
A: The lack of supervision. Buddy Chapman, the former Police Director here, said he favors this type of policing — what some call zero-tolerance or proactive policing — because it can be very effective. And this was a data-driven initiative where they would figure out where the hot spots of crime were and they'd send these guys out as saturation patrols. The problem is: it's highly risky... You have to keep this under close supervision. There's got to be a field lieutenant or a sergeant out there close by and there's got to be tight recording, tight controlling. But these early indications were getting is that they weren't getting that kind of supervision and that they were kind of, you know, running amok... without any type of control over them.
Click here to listen to this segment.
_______________________________________________________
February 1, 2023 at 11:00 AM
Max Matza from BBC News reports "Memphis gathers to mourn at Tyre Nichols' funeral"
The family of Tyre Nichols will lay him to rest at a Memphis funeral on Wednesday, three weeks after he died following a brutal beating by police.
Click here to view the entire article.
_______________________________________________________
February 1, 2023 at 10:59 AM
Ayana Archie from NPR reports "4 of the 5 officers charged in Tyre Nichols' death had prior violations at work"
Four of the five former Memphis Police officers who have been charged in the death of Tyre Nichols had previous infractions with the department, according to Memphis police personnel records shared with NPR.
Former officers Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills, Emmitt Martin, Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean were fired Jan. 20 and are now being charged with murder.Video of the Jan. 7 incident was released Friday.
Four of those officers — Haley, Martin, Mills and Smith — were reprimanded or suspended earlier for their failure to report when they used physical force, failure to report a domestic dispute, or for damages sustained to their squad cruisers, according to the files from Memphis police. Bean did not have any reprimands or suspensions in the files.
The two discipline cases about the use of force focused on whether the officers filed the required reports about the incidents and did not appear to examine if the officers' used of force was warranted.
Here is a look at the officers' records:
Demetrius Haley
Haley started at the department in August 2020. He violated department policy when, in February 2021, he did not fill out a response to resistance form after he grabbed a woman's arm to handcuff her. The forms must be filled out if an officer uses any part of their body "to compel compliance," according to the file.
In a hearing regarding the incident, Haley said he misjudged the amount of force needed to warrant filling out the form. His lieutenant said Haley was a "hard-working officer" who "routinely makes good decisions" and "he was sure that this was a limited event." Haley was given a written reprimand.
In August 2021, Haley crashed into a stop sign while responding to a call about an aggravated assault and was given a traffic ticket. During the hearing about the incident, Haley said that as he was driving to the scene, a call came over the radio that one of the responding officers was holding the suspect at gunpoint and that he sped there "only thinking about the officer's safety."
The hearing officer wrote that "Officer Haley took full ownership for the accident and was very humble during the hearing" and the violation was dismissed.
Desmond Mills, Jr.
Mills graduated with a degree in criminal justice from West Virginia State University in 2013 and began at the Memphis Police Department in March 2017.
In March 2019, Mills violated procedure when he dropped his personal digital assistant (PDA) into the street while entering his squad car. The device was then run over by a separate car.
It was Mills' first infraction, and he immediately reported the incident to his union representative, so he received a written reprimand, according to department records.
Later that month, Mills failed to file a response to resistance form when he used physical force to take a woman down to the ground so she could be handcuffed and arrested. In the hearing in August 2021, Mills said he did not realize his actions necessitated use of the form and was again issued a written reprimand.
Emmitt Martin III
Martin graduated from Bethel University in 2015 with a degree in criminal justice and started at the department in March 2018.
In March 2019, a loaded handgun was found in the rear passenger side of a squad car used by Martin and his partner. Martin said he failed to do a proper pre- and post-shift inspection, and only inspected the car from the outside. During his shift that day, he and his partner conducted two traffic stops, in which the suspects were placed in the backseat where the gun was found. Additionally, the officers did not do inspections after the suspects left the vehicle, as is protocol. Martin was issued a three-day suspension without pay, according to the files.
In September 2020, Martin violated protocol by mishandling a domestic abuse complaint between two sisters, one of whose husband requested a report. Martin did not take the report and said he did not believe one was necessary, reasoning that the parties involved were intoxicated and the man's wife – the alleged victim of abuse – did not want the report. The responding officers, including Martin, threatened the involved parties that if they had to take a report, both sisters would be arrested, according to department records.
A fellow officer and lieutenant at the disciplinary hearing defended Martin, saying the victim didn't want a report and Martin is not one to "shirk responsibility."
"Memphis Police Officers are directed by department policy and state law to make a complete report on the scene of Domestic abuse calls," the hearing officer wrote. "Officer[s] cannot base their decision to arrest based [on] the victim's consent or on the perception of the victim's willingness to cooperate with prosecution."
Martin was issued a one-day suspension without pay.
In a 2021 performance evaluation, Martin ranked as exceeding expectations in dealing with the public.
"Officer Martin is respectful when dealing with others regardless of their sex, race, age, or rank," the evaluation stated. "He approaches his calls with a positive attitude and is well received when dealing with the public. He is continually a top leader in arrests and calls, and not one person he has arrested has complained."
Justin Smith
Smith began at the department in March 2018. In January 2021, he was passing a vehicle and crashed into its rear, causing it to spin and crash into a third vehicle, which had two people inside. All parties were sent to the hospital in non-critical condition.
Smith said the driver of the second vehicle went right and then left into his lane suddenly. He admitted to speeding, but said his memory was somewhat unclear due to his minor head injury from the airbag, according to a summary from the disciplinary hearing.
Smith was issued a citation, suspended for two days without pay and ordered to take remedial driver training.
Tadarrius Bean
Bean started with Memphis police in August 2020. He had no prior infractions from the department on his record.
WKNO's Katie Riordan contributed to this report.
Click here to view this article.
_______________________________________________________
February 1, 2023 at 10:00 AM
Max Matza from BBC News reports "Memphis gathers to mourn at Tyre Nichols' funeral"
The family of Tyre Nichols will lay him to rest at a Memphis funeral on Wednesday, three weeks after he died following a brutal beating by police.
Click here to view this article.
_______________________________________________________
February 1, 2023 at 5:42 AM
Up First from NPR reports "Biden and McCarthy Talk Debt Limit, Tyre Nichols' Funeral, Federal Reserve Rate Hike"
President Biden meets with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to discuss the debt ceiling, thousands expected to attend Tyre Nichols' funeral in Memphis, the Fed's latest move to tamp down inflation.
Click here to view this segment.
_______________________________________________________
February 1, 2023 at 4:04 AM
Joe Hernandez with NPR reports "Tyre Nichols will be laid to rest in Memphis on Wednesday"
The funeral for Tyre Nichols is set to be held in Memphis on Wednesday, roughly three weeks after he died following a beating by police that was caught on video and sparked a wave of protests and calls for accountability nationwide.
The Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver Nichols' eulogy, and Ben Crump, an attorney for Nichols' family, will give a "call to action," organizers said.
Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to attend the funeral at the invitation of Nichols' family. Tamika Palmer, the mother of Breonna Taylor, and Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, are also expected.
Services at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis are scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. Central Time. Organizers said the funeral would be livestreamed on Facebookand YouTube.
Nichols died on Jan. 10, three days after he was brutally beaten by police during a traffic stop. He was 29.
Body-camera video shows officers pull over Nichols on Jan. 7 on suspicion of reckless driving. They yank Nichols from his car and try to arrest him, but he flees.
When police finally catch up with him at a second location, officers kick him, hit him with a baton and repeatedly punch him in the head in a violent encounter also captured by a surveillance camera nearby.
Five Memphis police officers have been fired and charged with Nichols' murder, and two other officers are facing discipline. The city's fire department fired two EMTs and a lieutenant. The Memphis Police Department also disbanded the specialized unit whose officers beat Nichols.
Nichols' death has garnered national attention and drawn comparisons to other instances in which Black people have been killed at the hands of police, including Taylor and Floyd. President Biden said the video of officers beating Nichols left him "outraged and deeply pained."
An avid skateboarder, Nichols had a 4-year-old son, worked at FedEx with his stepfather and had a tattoo of his mother's name.
Click here to view the article.
_______________________________________________________
February 1, 2023
Here & Now from NPR reports "Skateboard shop owner reflects on Tyre Nichols"
Sac Ramp Skate Shop owner Christopher Dean joins Here & Now's Robin Young to reflect on the life of Tyre Nichols, who will be buried in Memphis, Tennessee, on Wednesday.
Nichols died last month, days after he was beaten by Memphis Police officers following a traffic stop. Skateboarders in Sacramento, California, where Nichols grew up will remember him at a "homegoing celebration" on Saturday.
Click here to listen to this segment.
_______________________________________________________
January 31, 2023 at 6:00 PM
_______________________________________________________
January 30, 2023 at 5:14 PM
On All Things Considered from NPR, Jordon Rau reports:
Tyre Nichols, killed after a police traffic stop, will be buried Wednesday in Memphis. National civil rights advocates and politicians will join his family, who have called for police reforms.
_______________________________________________________
January 31, 2023
Vice President Kamala Harris will attend Tyre Nichols funeral on Wednesday, February 1.
_______________________________________________________
January 31, 2023 at 9:36 AM
Christopher Blankwith WKNO-FM reports "TN Politics: Memphis Officials Earn "A" for Rapid Response to Video"
Political analyst Otis Sanford says the Tyre Nichols beating video was bad, but City leaders didn't make it worse by sugarcoating it.
Sanford adds that previously, the race to replace Mayor Jim Strickland was focused on crime. Now, it will be crime and police reform.
Listen to this segment, click here.
_______________________________________________________
January 31, 2023 at 9:14 AM
Barbara Sprunt with NPR reports "Tyre Nichols' killing revives calls for Congress to address police reform"
The release of video footage of Memphis, Tenn., police brutally beating Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black father and FedEx employee, has revived calls for Congress to once again consider police reform. But in an era of divided government, the likelihood of any legislation making it to President Biden's desk remains slim.
Nichols died in a hospital three days after being pulled over for what police said was reckless driving. Five officers who beat Nichols have been indicted and jailed on charges including second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. Other officers have also been relieved of duty pending an investigation.
Plans are underway for Congressional Black Caucus Chair Steven Horsford to meet with Biden about police reform. A date for the meeting has not yet been set.
The Nevada Democrat told NPR that he wants to know "what more we can be doing from an executive action standpoint" and added that he thinks Biden can be a key player in negotiations.
"I believe the president has the ability to bring us together in a very unique way," Horsford said, noting Biden's role in passing gun safety legislation and the bipartisan infrastructure legislation. "We expect the president to be involved in helping us reach consensus in a bipartisan way on comprehensive police accountability and justice reform."
Horsford said he wants Biden to address the issue in the upcoming State of the Union in order "to center this issue and the pain that families are experiencing, not the least of which is the Nichols family, but people who experience this pain virtually every single day somewhere in America."
Horsford has invited the Nichols family to attend the address.
"When a mother has to be concerned with her child going to a park, when a family member has to be concerned about someone busting down someone's door in the middle of the night, when a young man gets pulled over for what may or may not even be a traffic stop, and it ends in death because of bad policing — all of us should be concerned because any of us could be next."
Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., chair of Congressional Black Caucus
Horsford added: "Congress has a role to play, and anyone who says they don't is abdicating their responsibility to keep our community safe. You cannot stand up in one minute and say you're for safety and do nothing to keep our community safe from bad policing."
But passing legislation in both chambers is an uphill battle.
Negotiations on police reform broke down in 2021 after months of bipartisan deliberations between then-Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., and Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Tim Scott, R-S.C.
Despite previous impasses on the issue, Horsford said he remains "hopeful" that progress can be made on a legislative level.
"We are working to come up with opportunities to negotiate on the principles of justice and police reform that are meaningful," he said, noting he has reached out to Scott, one of the central players in previous negotiations. "We are looking for ways to tackle the pattern and practices of cities like Memphis that have higher rates of use of force against Black residents."
"It is a false choice that people say we cannot both support law enforcement and hold them accountable to serve the communities that they are sworn to do so in a manner that keeps people safe," he said.
Calls to bring back the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act
Attorney Ben Crump, who represents Nichols' family, has also called on Congress to renew negotiations.
"Shame on us if we don't use [Nichols'] tragic death to finally get the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act passed," Crump said on CNN's State of the Union.
That legislation, which passed in the House in March 2021 but faced steep Republican opposition in the Senate, sought to ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants in certain cases, mandate data collection on police encounters and alter qualified immunity for law enforcement.
Sen. Dick Durbin, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, told ABC's This Week that he wants Booker and Scott to "revive that effort."
"It had many elements in it that are important: banning chokeholds, dealing with no-warrant searches, dealing with accreditation of police departments. It's necessary that we do all these things, but not sufficient," said the Illinois Democrat.
In a Senate floor speech Monday night, Scott slammed Durbin's remarks.
"Sen. Durbin asked Sen. Booker and I to come back to the table and start talking about policing in America," he said. "I never left the table."
Scott, the lone Black Republican in the Senate, criticized Democrats for previously blocking consideration of his policing reform measure in 2020.
"Imagine my disappointment," Scott said, "when the duty to intervene, de-escalation training, more resources, more reporting, so that we all have eyes around the country, was filibustered in this chamber."
"We should have simple legislation that we can agree on," he added. "But too often too many are too concerned with who gets the credit. I know that when a conservative Republican starts talking about policing in America, some people seem to just turn the channel. That's wrong."
But even if a new version of police reform legislation were to be approved by the Senate, it would then have to pass the Republican-controlled House.
"I don't know that there's any law that can stop that evil that we saw," said Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, on NBC's Meet the Press.
"There's things we can do. I think there's all kinds of grant dollars that could go out. There's reform that can happen there," he said. "But it's just a difference in, I think, philosophy. The Democrats always think that it's a new law that's going to fix something that terrible."
Click here to view the article.
_______________________________________________________
January 31, 2023 at 4:03 AM
Morning Edition from NPR reports "Do special police units deter crime or lead to more prosecutions and convictions?"
NPR's A Martinez talks to Paul Butler — law professor at Georgetown University, and author of the book Chokehold: Policing Black Men — about the culture and tactics of special police units.
Click here to view this segment.
_______________________________________________________
January 31, 2023 at 4:00 AM
Joe Hernandez with NPR reports "Police statements tell the first version of an incident. Then video footage comes out"
In the days since Tennessee officials released video footage of Memphis police officers brutally beating Tyre Nichols, law enforcement has faced a new wave of criticism.
Some of it has focused on how authorities initially described the incident – and what the videos actually show.
According to a statement from the Memphis Police Department the day after Nichols was beaten, officers pulled over a suspect on suspicion of reckless driving and "a confrontation occurred." The suspect fled, police followed and "another confrontation occurred."
(The statement notes that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was looking into the stop "due to the suspect's condition.")
Video footage released Friday, taken from officers' body cameras and a street surveillance camera, shows a different story. In the videos, police quickly yank Nichols from his car, shout obscenities and threats, and then pepper spray him. Nichols flees, and when police finally catch him a second time, officers kick him, hit him with a baton and repeatedly punch him in the head while he's being restrained.
For some, the discrepancy between the initial police statement and what was captured on video brought to mind previous instances in which law enforcement's initial statement about a violent encounter was vague, misleading or false.
Critics say the unclear and obfuscatory language police sometimes use to describe violent incidents to the public can further damage trust with communities that may already be skeptical of law enforcement.
"To the extent that you're putting out statements that are indicating one thing and then the video footage released later on shows completely the opposite, that definitely is problematic for trying to build police-community relations," Andrea Headley, a professor at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy, told NPR.
Footage of high-profile incidents has bred skepticism of police accounts
On May 25, 2020, the Minneapolis Police Department said officers responded to a forgery in progress and arrested a suspect. "Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress," a press release read. "Officers called for an ambulance."
The man was George Floyd, and video footage of the incident captured by a bystander showed former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes while Floyd repeatedly pleaded, "I can't breathe!" Floyd died that day.
When the New York Police Department disclosed Eric Garner's death in 2014, a police spokesperson said a man was "being placed in custody, went into cardiac arrest and died," according to a New York Daily Newsarticle at the time.
But video shot by a bystander showed former NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo putting Garner in a chokehold until he went unconscious. New York City's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner later ruled Garner's death a homicide.
In 2018, the Alameda County Sheriff's Office first said that 23-year-old Dujuan Armstrong died of a drug overdose inside the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, Calif. But as the Guardianreported, body-camera footage released later showed that officers put Armstrong in a restraining jacket and a spit mask before he became unresponsive. An autopsy found that Armstrong died of asphyxiation due to the restraints.
Headley, the Georgetown professor, said police have a number of reasons for issuing vague statements early on in use-of-force investigations, including the possibility that the authors of the statements may not have all the facts.
For example, John Elder was the Minneapolis Police Department's public information director in 2020 and wrote the initial statement about Floyd's death. He told theLos Angeles Times that he got his information from sergeants and computer-aided dispatch, and that he hadn't seen any video footage of the encounter before writing the press release.
"This had literally zero intent to deceive or be dishonest or disingenuous. Had we known that this [situation] was what we saw on the video, that statement would have been completely different," Elder told the newspaper.
Headley also said statements could be vague because investigators are still gathering evidence, or police leadership may not want to admit to a mistake or damage morale by condemning an officer's actions too quickly.
"But I think really where the conflict comes in is when there are discrepancies in the report or in the statements that are put out that don't match the evidence when it comes out. And when the language that is used is particularly one that tries to abdicate responsibility," she said.
Even after violent incidents, there are ways police departments can try to build trust, Headley suggested.
She said she worked with one agency that would bring in community leaders for an explanation of an incident before discussing it with the media. Departments can also acknowledge if they are still looking into what happened, she said, including if they haven't reviewed any video evidence yet.
Click here to view the article.
_______________________________________________________
January 30, 2023 updated at 8:21 PM
Amy Isackson, Katie Riordan, and Jaclyn Diaz with NPR reports "7th officer relieved of duty and 3 first responders fired after Tyre Nichols' death"
The Memphis Police Department has confirmed that a seventh officer has been disciplined as part of the investigation into the death of Tyre Nichols, coming just hours after the department revealed that a sixth officer was facing discipline for the incident.
The city's fire department also announced Monday evening that two of its EMTs and a lieutenant were terminated following their own internal investigation into the death of Nichols.
Nichols was pulled over on suspicion of reckless driving on Jan. 7. He was seen on police video being brutally beaten by police officers and died three days later in the hospital.
Five officers involved were fired and charged with murder.
On Monday, the department confirmed that a sixth officer, Preston Hemphill, had been "relieved of duty," according to spokesperson Kimberly Elder. Hemphill was hired in 2018. A seventh officer, whom the department did not identify, was also suspended. All seven officers were initially suspended on Jan. 8, police said.
It's not clear why the city waited until Monday to reveal the suspensions of Hemphill and the seventh officer. Hemphill has not been charged related to the beating and subsequent death of Nichols.
Also on Monday, the Memphis Fire Department said EMTs Robert Long and JaMicheal Sandridge, along with Lt. Michelle Whitaker, were terminated from the department after an investigation revealed the three "violated numerous MFD Policies and Protocols."
Police announced the first five officers' termination on Jan. 20.
Hemphill and the seventh officer are suspended from duty, pending an investigation. Department spokesperson Christopher Williams could not say whether Hemphill is still receiving his salary.
Hemphill's attorney, Lee Gerald, said Hemphill was one of the three officers at the site where police initially pulled Nichols over. He said body camera footage that the city of Memphis released and labeled "Video 1" came from Hemphill.
"As per departmental regulations Officer Hemphill activated his bodycam. He was never present at the second scene," Gerald said. "He is cooperating with officials in this investigation."
Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, attorneys for the Nichols family, issued a statement earlier in the day criticizing the police department.
"The news today from Memphis officials that Officer Preston Hemphill was reportedly relieved of duty weeks ago, but not yet terminated or charged, is extremely disappointing," the lawyers said. "Why is his identity and the role he played in Tyre's death just now coming to light? We have asked from the beginning that the Memphis Police Department be transparent with the family and the community — this news seems to indicate that they haven't risen to the occasion."
Hemphill's body camera shows him using a Taser on Nichols
Hemphill's body camera footage shows the chaotic traffic stop as Nichols is pulled from his vehicle and brought to the ground. Hemphill's body-worn camera captures the officer with a Taser in his hand, which he shortly thereafter uses on Nichols as he gets up to flee.
Hemphill is also heard saying, "I hope they stomp his ass" to one of the officers in reference to Nichols.
The video does not show Hemphill's face. It's unclear where or when this unnamed seventh officer came into the scene on Jan. 7.
The five former officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr. — have all been charged with one count of second-degree murder, one count of aggravated assault-acting in concert, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of official misconduct and one count of official oppression. They are all out on bail.
Nichols and the five charged former officers are Black. Hemphill is white.
Prosecutors are still investigating
Additional charges against other officers on scene that day could be coming as the investigation into Nichols' death continues, according to the Shelby County District Attorney's Office.
The district attorney's office says it's looking at all individuals in the events leading up to, during and after the beating of Nichols, including Memphis Fire Department personnel, and people who participated in preparing documentation of the incident afterward.
Two Memphis Fire Department employees, who were not identified, but who were "involved in the initial patient care" of Nichols, were relieved of duty earlier this month. It's not clear if they are among those whose termination was announced Monday.
The district attorney's office is asking for the public's patience as their work continues.
"The DA's Office worked extraordinarily swiftly but thoroughly to charge those whose offenses were plain and clear and directly contributed to the death of Mr. Nichols, but in no way is this investigation over," the district attorney's office said in a statement. "While we are committed to transparency, we cannot comment on the details of an ongoing investigation or give previews of what charges we may or may not bring. Our goal remains the same: to seek justice for Tyre Nichols and hold all who contributed to his death accountable."
Protests continue in Memphis
The public's response to Nichols' death and the subsequent release of the videos depicting his violent beating has largely been peaceful.
For a fourth straight day, demonstrators gathered in Memphis. A couple dozen gathered, a crowd size likely impacted by temperatures in the 30s and an encroaching ice storm warning from the National Weather Service. The location was symbolic — Shelby Farms Park, a large green space in eastern Memphis that Nichols was known to frequent to enjoy sunsets.
They called for police reforms such an end to pretextual traffic stops and an outside, independent review of operations at the Memphis Police Department.
_______________________________________________________
January 30, 2023 at 5:00 PM
_______________________________________________________
January 30, 2023 at 5:00 PM
BBC News reports "Tyre Nichols death: Three Memphis emergency staff fired"
Three Memphis emergency workers have been fired as part of an investigation into the death of Tyre Nichols which has shocked the US.
Click here to view the entire article.
_______________________________________________________
January 30, 2023 at 4:29 PM
— Memphis Fire Department (@MEM_Fire) January 30, 2023
_______________________________________________________
January 30, 2023 at 2:31 PM
The Shelby County District Attorney's Office makes a statement regarding the Tyre Nichols' investigation:
Statement from Shelby County District Attorney’s Office Regarding Ongoing Investigation in Tyre Nichols Case
This is an ongoing investigation. The current charges do not preclude us from adding additional charges as more information is presented. We are looking at all individuals involved in the events leading up to, during, and after the beating of Tyre Nichols. This includes the officer present at the initial encounter who has not— so far—been charged, Memphis Fire Department personnel, and persons who participated in preparing documentation of the incident afterward.
The DA’s Office worked extraordinarily swiftly but thoroughly to charge those whose offenses were plain and clear and directly contributed to the death of Mr. Nichols, but in no way is this investigation over.
While we are committed to transparency, we cannot comment on the details of an ongoing investigation or give previews of what charges we may or may not bring.
Our goal remains the same: to seek justice for Tyre Nichols and hold all who contributed to his death accountable. We ask for the public's patience as the investigation continues.
_______________________________________________________
January 30, 2023
Here & Now from NPR reports "A closer look at the Memphis SCORPION Unit"
The Memphis Police Department has disbanded its SCORPION Unit, the specialized police unit of the five officers charged in the death of Tyre Nichols. The acronym stood for "Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods."
Here & Now's Scott Tong speaks with Keith Taylor, adjunct assistant professor in the department of law, police science and criminal justice administration at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York and formerly the New York City Police Department.
Click here to view this segment.
_________________________________________________________________
January 30, 2023 at 12:25 PM
BBC News reports "Sixth police officer suspended after Tyre Nichols' death"
A sixth officer has been suspended amid an ongoing investigation into the death of Tyre Nichols, a Memphis Police spokesperson said.
Click here to view this entire article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 30, 2023 at 12:09 PM
Amy Isackson, Katie Riordan, and Jaclyn Diaz with NPR reports "A 6th police officer is relieved of duty in the Tyre Nichols death investigation"
The Memphis Police Department has confirmed that a sixth officer has been disciplined during the investigation into the death of Tyre Nichols.
Nichols was pulled over on suspicion of reckless driving on Jan. 7. He was seen on police video being brutally beaten by police officers and died three days later in the hospital.
Officer Preston Hemphill has been "relieved of duty," according to Memphis Police Department spokesperson Kimberly Elder. She added, "This is an ongoing investigation. Once additional information is available, we will update our social media platforms. Hemphill was hired in 2018."
Hemphill was relieved at the same time as five other officers, Elder says. He has not been charged related to the beating and subsequent death of Nichols.
But while the other officers were fired, Hemphill is suspended from duty, pending an investigation, according to department spokesperson Christopher Williams. Williams could not clarify whether Hemphill is still receiving his salary.
Hemphill's attorney, Lee Gerald, says Hemphill was the third officer at the initial traffic stop of Nichols. "Video One is his bodycam footage. As per departmental regulations Officer Hemphill activated his bodycam. He was never present at the second scene. He is cooperating with officials in this investigation," says Gerald.
The five former officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr. — have all been charged with one count of second-degree murder, one count of aggravated assault-acting in concert, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, two counts of official misconduct and one count of official oppression. They are all out on bail.
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 30, 2023 at 10:00 AM
1A from NPR reports "Tyre Nichols and the SCORPION unit"
On Friday night, footage of Tyre Nichols‘ fatal encounter with police officers was made public. And once again, the nation is struggling to come to grips with the violence by police officers.
Click here to listen to this segment and view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 30, 2023
Here & Now from NPR reports "The latest from Memphis, after footage of Tyre Nichols death released"
Here & Now's Scott Tong gets the latest from Memphis following the release of the video showing the brutal beating of Tyre Nichols by police officers from Marc Perrusquia, director of the Institute for Public Service Reporting at the University of Memphis.
Click here to view this segment.
_________________________________________________________________
January 30, 2023
WKNO-FM has confirmed Officer Preston Hemphill (hired in 2018), who was the third officer at the initial stop of Mr. Nichols, has been relieved of duty
_________________________________________________________________
January 30, 2023
Here & Now from NPR reports "Tyre Nichols' death 'was more than police brutality. That was a lynching,' says Rev. Danté Stewart"
After a weekend of protests, Here & Now's Scott Tong talks with Rev. Danté Stewart about the death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis.
Click here to view this segment.
_________________________________________________________________
January 30, 2023 at 7:20 AM
Morning Edition from NPR reports "Ex-Memphis police colonel is in shock over the video of police beating Tyre Nichols"
NPR's A Martinez talks to pastor James Kirkwood, chairman of the Memphis Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board, about police practices and the killing of Tyre Nichols.
Click here to view this segment.
_________________________________________________________________
January 30, 2023
Here & Now from NPR reports "Racial trauma therapist reflects on damage and pain after Tyre Nichols' killing"
As the investigation into Tyre Nichols' death continues, a shocked, but maybe not surprised, nation wonders: Can there be substantive change? And how does the Black and Brown community — in Memphis and around the country — move forward? Is it possible?
Click here to view this segment.
_________________________________________________________________
January 30, 2023 at 4:09 AM
On Morning Edition from NPR, A Martínez and Michel Martin report "Memphis and the nation focus on another example of police violence"
Residents in Memphis, who watched the video of the violent police beating of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols, talk of their own brutal experiences. Nichols died three days after the attack.
Click here to view this segment.
_________________________________________________________________
January 30, 2023 at 4:08 AM
On All Things Considered from NPR, "Tennessee state Rep. Justin J. Pearson on Tyre Nichols killing"
NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Tennessee state Rep. Justin J. Pearson about the fatal police beating of Tyre Nichols in Memphis.
Click here to view the segment.
______________________________________________________________
January 30, 2023 at 4:08 AM
On All Things Considered from NPR, Michel Martin reports "A Memphis congregation mourns Tyre Nichols"
We hear how the community is grappling with the police killing of Tyre Nichols.
Click here to view the segment.
______________________________________________________________
January 30, 2023 at 4:08 AM
On All Things Considered from NPR, "Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen on Tyre Nichols killing"
NPR's Michel Martin speaks with U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen about the brutal beating of Tyre Nichols by five Memphis police officers.
Click here to view the segment.
______________________________________________________________
January 29, 2023 at 2:49 PM
On Weekend Edition Sunday from NPR, Juliana Kim reports "Tyre Nichols loved skateboarding. That's how his friends say they'll remember him"
In one video, Tyre Nichols is about 17 years old, skating along a mini ramp as the sun paints his hometown of Sacramento, Calif., bright orange. In another clip, Nichols trips off his skateboard while practicing a trick but remains unfazed. Instead, he tries again and again until he eventually gets it right.
Nichols' childhood friend, Austin Robert, recorded these videos more than a decade ago. At the time, filming was simply a creative outlet for Robert, Nichols and their small circle of friends.
But recently, the recordings have taken on new meaning. One video in particular has been shared countless times on social media in an effort to remember Nichols' life — not just his death or the harrowing way he was killed.
"I want him to be remembered as the kid smiling in the skate video and not the kid that was fighting for his life," Robert said.
Tyre Nichols and Austin Robert would spend their high school summers filming skateboard tricks. // Austin Robert YouTube
Nichols, a father of a 4-year-old son and FedEx worker, died on Jan. 10 in Memphis after being brutally beaten by five Memphis police officers at a traffic stop three days earlier. He was 29 years old. The officers have since been fired, arrested and charged with his murder. They are scheduledto appear for a bond arraignment on Feb.17.
Over the past few weeks, people across the country braced themselves for footage from the night Nichols was beaten — footage city officials described as heinous and inhumane.
That's when Robert's old home videos resurfaced. Attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Nichols' family, was among those who shared Robert's archival footage. He wroteon Twitter: "This is who Tyre Nichols was — a talented and dedicated skateboarder with SO much life left to live."
"He never wanted to quit"
Across the country, skateboard communities have been holding memorials in honor of Nichols and his love for the sport. Regency Skate Park in Sacramento, where Robert and Nichols met when they were teenagers, is organizing a candlelight vigil on Monday. Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells, has also been raising money to build a memorial skate park dedicated to her son.
According to Robert, Nichols was long fascinated with skateboards before he built up the courage to ride one. One day, Nichols decided to try it out and he became committed to the sport from that day forward.
Nearly every day for eight years, he and Robert would meet up with their group of friends and practice skateboard tricks until it got dark. Thursday's were known as "Thursdays with Tyre," said Robert. If the two of them were not at a park, they were at McDonalds choosing from the Dollar Menu.
What he remembers most vividly about Nichols was his positivity and "infectious" laughter.
"He always tried to bring everybody together and put a smile on anybody else's face before his own," Robert said.
He added that Nichols was like a "scientist" when it came to his dedication to land new skateboard tricks.
"He analyzed everything he was doing wrong and why he wasn't learning the trick and change all those little things until eventually he would have it down consistently," Robert said. "He never wanted to quit."
Friends remember how supportive he always was
Nichols was equally supportive in seeing his friends' succeed at skateboarding. If his friend was learning a new move, Nichols would set his board down, grab a camera and patiently wait until his friend mastered the trick, even if it took hours, according to Robert.
Nichols' childhood friend Jerome Neal also remembered how encouraging he could be, saying Nichols was the kind of guy who could "make you feel like you could do anything."
The two also met at Regency skate park during their high school years. Aside from skating, Neal said, Nichols loved listening to music on his iPod and practicing his videography skills — something the two of them continued to bond over when they became adults.
In November, when Neal visited Memphis, he told Nichols that he planned to start a video production company soon, in part because of how supportive Nichols was throughout the years.
"He was the very first person I told, and he was the first person I said I would want to hire when I got it going," Neal said.
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 29, 2023 at 2:00 PM
Chelsea Bailey and Antoinette Radford with BBC News reports "Tyre Nichols' lawyer urges lawmakers to pass urgent police reforms"
The lawyer representing Tyre Nichols' family has called on the US Congress to pass urgent police reform legislation in the wake of his death.
Click here to view this entire article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 29, 2023 at 12:09 PM
Joe Hernandez with NPR reports "Memphis deactivates the unit that fatally beat Tyre Nichols, as officials urge reform"
The official efforts to respond to the vicious beating of Tyre Nichols by Memphis police are already underway, just two days after footage of the incident was released to the public.
Five Memphis police officers have been fired and charged with Nichols' murder, but lawmakers and law enforcement authorities in Tennessee say more has to be done in the wake of Nichols' death.
Meanwhile, protesters continue to take to the streets of Memphis and elsewhere around the nation to express outrage over the incident and again rally against the treatment of Black people by police.
Here's the latest:
Memphis police disband the so-called SCORPION Unit
The Memphis Police Department announced Saturday that it was disbanding the specialized unit whose officers stopped and beat Nichols on Jan. 7. Nichols died in the hospital three days later.
The so-called SCORPION Unit – which stood for Street Crimes Operations to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods – is being deactivated following a meeting between Chief Cerelyn 'C.J.' Davis and officers on the squad.
The other officers assigned to the unit "unreservedly agree with this next step," a statement from the department said.
"While the heinous actions of a few casts a cloud of dishonor on the title SCORPION," the statement went on, "it is imperative that we, the Memphis Police Department take proactive steps in the healing process for all impacted."
Davis previously said she would not disband the unit after Nichols' death, the Associated Press reported.
Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, two attorneys for Nichols' family, said it was "appropriate and proportional" to dissolve the police unit.
"We hope that other cities take similar action with their saturation police units in the near future to begin to create greater trust in their communities," the attorneys said. "We must keep in mind that this is just the next step on this journey for justice and accountability, as clearly this misconduct is not restricted to these specialty units. It extends so much further."
Tennessee Democrats say they'll propose police reforms this year
Top Democrats in Tennessee's state legislature say they will propose new legislation targeting police training, discipline, mental health and more in response to the death of Tyre Nichols.
House Democratic Caucus Chair John Ray Clemmons, Rep. G.A. Hardaway and Rep. Joe Towns, Jr., announced their plan during a press conference on Saturday.
Among the issues the bills aim to address are implicit bias training, mental health evaluations for police officers, limits on officers transferring departments after facing discipline or being fired and a reevaluation of low-level traffic stops, NBC News reported.
Republicans hold a sizable majority in the Tennessee General Assembly, but the Democrats said they were confident they could get bipartisan support because of the magnitude of the incident, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported.
Crump calls for federal police reform
In media interviews over the weekend, attorney Ben Crump called on Congress to pass police reform, saying it was necessary after the death of another Black man at the hands of officers.
He specifically urged federal lawmakers to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which was twice approved by the House but stalled in the Senate in 2021.
"Without federal police reform, I think we're going to continue to see these hashtags proliferate so much that we can't keep up with them," Crump told ABC'sThis Week.
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act would ban chokeholds, prohibit no-knock warrants in federal drug cases, end qualified immunity for law enforcement officers – and more.
Click here to view the posted statement.
_________________________________________________________________
January 29, 2023 at 6:55 AM
On Weekend Edition Sunday, Debbie Elliott from NPR reports "As the death of Tyre Nichols brings up old wounds, Memphis residents call for change"
Memphis residents are calling for change within the police department following the death of Tyre Nichols after a traffic stop. For some, his killing has prompted painful memories of the past.
Click here to view this segment.
_________________________________________________________________
January 28, 2023
— Memphis Police Dept (@MEM_PoliceDept) January 28, 2023
_________________________________________________________________
January 28, 2023
BBC News reports "Rodney King's daughter in tears after watching video"
Lora Dene King broke down in tears watching footage that showed the arrest leading to the death of Tyre Nichols.
Click here to view the entire article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 28, 2023
Memphis Fire Department Statement Regarding Tyre Nichols
As a result of the recent criminal investigation into the death of Mr. Nichols, the Memphis Fire Department did not receive full access to the video footage until January 27, 2023. The department is currently reviewing the footage and will be concluding our internal investigation early next week.
Click here to view the posted statement.
_________________________________________________________________
January 28, 2023 at 8:13 PM
— ShelbyTNSheriff (@ShelbyTNSheriff) January 28, 2023
_________________________________________________________________
January 28, 2023 at 7:30 PM
Chelsea Bailey and George Wright from BBC News report "Tyre Nichols: Police unit is disbanded after death"
The Memphis Police Department has disbanded the so-called Scorpion special unit, whose officers are accused of murdering Tyre Nichols.
Click here to view the entire article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 28, 2023 at 6:45 PM
Robin Levinson-King from BBC News report "Unanswered questions from videos of Tyre Nichols' arrest"
Everyone who has seen the footage of Tyre Nichols' fatal encounter with five Memphis police officers has come to the same conclusion: something went horribly wrong that night.
Click here to view the entire article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 28, 2023 at 5:44 PM
All Things Considered with NPR reports "In Memphis, protesters vent anger over police killing of Tyre Nichols"
NPR's Michel Martin speaks with NPR member station WKNO reporter Katie Riordan regarding public reaction to the brutal beating of Tyre Nichols by Memphis police.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
_________________________________________________________________
January 28, 2023 at 4:15 PM
Juliana Kim with NPR reports "Police experts say Tyre Nichols' arrest was filled with procedural violations"
Many across the country have been reeling from the newly released footage of Tyre Nichols' arrest. Among those most shocked are former police officers and criminal justice experts who say that very little of the arrest went by protocol.
"All the actions here, from the very first interaction, really, run counter to how we expect officers, how we train officers to behave," said Ian Adams, a professor in the department of criminology and criminal justice at the University of South Carolina.
"It's hard to find reason in what seems incredibly unreasonable," Adams told NPR.
On Jan. 7, Nichols, a 29-year-old Black motorist, was pulled over on suspicion of reckless driving in Memphis, Tenn., and aggressively beaten by police. He died in a hospital three days later.
Videos released Friday evening by the city of Memphis showed that officers dragged Nichols from his car on the night of the traffic stop. They also shouted profanities throughout the confrontation. At one point, an officer tried to deploy a Taser at Nichols and then began chasing him on foot. "I'm just trying to go home," Nichols could be heard saying on the videos. Officers repeatedly kicked, punched and used a baton to strike Nichols as he lay on the ground.
Five officers involved that night have been fired, arrested and charged with murder. Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis saidthe five officers violated multiple department policies, including excessive use of force, duty to intervene and duty to render aid.
The traffic stop was unusual
Philip Stinson, a criminal justice professor at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, described the initial traffic stop as "highly unusual" for a variety of reasons.
"It was not a normal traffic stop," he told NPR. "They were not in marked vehicles, they were not wearing normal police uniforms, and they pulled him out of the car, got him down on the ground and pepper-sprayed him."
The officers involved were not on typical patrol duty. They were part of a specialized unit known as Street Crimes Operations to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods, or SCORPION. The unit was launched in 2021 to reduce violent crime and the number of violent hot spots in the city.
Sue Rahr, the former sheriff of King County, Wash., who was on President Barack Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing, saidthat specialized squads can develop an aggressive culture that sees their work as a kind of war where "everybody in the neighborhood" is the "enemy."
Adams from the University of South Carolina also pointed out that the officers were unusually young and inexperienced to be in a specialized unit.
The amount of force used was unwarranted
Police are generally trained to use a reasonably necessary amount of force to accomplish an arrest, but the police officers involved went "far beyond that," Stinson said.
"They did not really seem to have an interest in getting him handcuffed, they seemed to have an interest in giving him a beating," he said.
Officers are supposed to use the least amount of force necessary to bring somebody into custody, but Stinson said the use of force quickly escalated into deadly territory.
"All of the blows to the head were the application of deadly force," he said.
Such extreme measures are only supposed to be used when there is reasonable belief that it was immediately necessary in order to protect an officer or another person from a threat of death or serious bodily injury.
"That certainty wasn't the situation here," Stinson said. "This was somebody that they could have taken into custody, in handcuffs, very quickly had they chosen to do so."
Other police officers should have intervened
Stinson said police officers have a legal and moral obligation to intervene if another officer is using excessive force. But in the videos, it appeared that there was very little intervention from surrounding law enforcement.
Shortly after the arrest videos were made public, Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner said that two deputies who arrived at the scene had been relieved of their duties pending an internal investigation.
Earlier this week, two Memphis Fire Department employees who were "involved in the initial patient care" of Nichols were also"relieved of duty" pending an internal investigation, a department spokesperson said.
Stinson noted that officers have a duty to render medical aid, but the footage showed very little medical support from medical personnel or officers. It took more than 20 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.
"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. "Every now and then, he'd fall over and they propped him back up."
He described the lack of care as a "complete callous disregard and indifference to the value of human life."
NPR's Martin Kaste contributed reporting.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 28, 2023
BBC News reports "Tyre Nichols: President Biden says 'image of America' at stake"
US President Joe Biden told reporters the "'image of America" was at stake after the country watches a video showing the arrest that led to the death of Tyre Nichols.
Click here to view the entire article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 28, 2023 at 8:02 AM
Up First from NPR report "Tyre Nichols Video Released, Middle East Violence, Latest NPR Shopping Trip"
Memphis releases footage of the violent traffic stop that resulted in the death of Tyre Nichols. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits the Middle East amid renewed violence. NPR returns to a particular Walmart for more insight into the economy.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 28, 2023 at 7:02 AM
On NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday Scott Simon and Martin Kaste report "Policing experts condemn Memphis officers after the release of Tyre Nichols footage"
Policing experts are condemning the actions of Memphis officers depicted in videos of a deadly altercation with Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old man who was stopped for a traffic violation.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 28, 2023
Chelsea Bailey with BBC News reports "Black Americans struggle with 'triggering' Tyre Nichols video"
Angelina Paxton had been friends with Tyre Nichols for more than half her life.
As teens, she said, they spent their days at the skate park, and their afternoons watching the California sunset while talking on the hood of a car.
And that's exactly how they spent a final afternoon together, in 2020, when Ms Paxton visited Mr Nichols in Memphis.
Click here to view the entire article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 28, 2023 at 7:57 AM
Jonathan Franklin and Emma Bowman with NPR report "What we know about the killing of Tyre Nichols"
Updated January 28, 2023 at 4:50 PM ET
Mostly peaceful protests over police brutality were carried out around the country after the public release of body camera footagebrought the Memphis police killing of Tyre Nichols into clearer picture.
Nichols, a 29-year-old Black motorist, was pulled over Jan. 7 for what police said was reckless driving. After attempting to flee on foot, Nichols was aggressively beaten by police, newly released police video shows. Three days later, he died in the hospital.
Here's what else we know.
Who was Tyre Nichols?
Nichols, a father of a 4-year-old son, was known to his family as an avid skateboarder and nature photographer from Sacramento, Calif., according to The Associated Press. He arrived in Memphis just before the pandemic, and later started a job with FedEx, a major employer there. Nichols had been with the company for about nine months before his death, The New York Timesreported.
"He was one of those people who made everyone around them happy," Nichols' step-grandmother Lucille Washingtonsaid at a memorial service.
Police body cam video shows a violent arrest
Police said on Jan. 8that Nichols was taken into custody after a traffic stop that involved two confrontations with officers. During the initial confrontation, Nichols fled the scene of the traffic stop, police said.
Following the arrest, Nichols then complained of shortness of breath, according to authorities, and was taken to the hospital in critical condition, where he died on Jan. 10.
His family has said the police beat him so severely that he was unrecognizable.
The Shelby County District Attorney's Office said in a statement earlier this week that it understood the "reasonable request from the public" to view the video of Nichols' death.
The city of Memphis released the four-part footage on Vimeo on Friday evening.
In the videos, officers are seen dragging Nichols from his car and shouting profanities throughout the confrontation. An officer tries to deploy a Taser at Nichols and then begins to chase him on foot. "I'm just trying to go home," Nichols is heard saying. Later, officers are seen repeatedly kicking, punching and using a baton to strike Nichols as he lies on the ground. At one point he's heard yelling "Mom." Lawyers for the Nichols family say this encounter happened within 100 yards of the family's home.
Ben Crump, the family's attorney, compared the footage to the video of the 1991 Los Angeles police beating of Rodney King, another Black motorist.
Protests were held in several cities following release of police video
Mostly peaceful protests broke out in cities across the U.S. following the release of the videos, with demonstrators leading marches and chants against police brutality and shutting down highways and intersections in some cities.
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. They chanted "no justice, no peace" and "justice for Tyre," closing the bridge for nearly three hours before peacefully disbanding.
In other parts of Memphis, people gathered in churches or small groups to reflect on the wrenching and somber moment for the city.
A protest in downtown Los Angeles became tense when a small group protesters demonstrated outside of Los Angeles Police Department headquarters, which was blocked by police in riot gear, according to theLos Angeles Times.
Other small, but mostly peaceful protests, were also held in Times Square in New York City, near the White House in Washington, D.C., in Seattle, Detroit and Atlanta, as well as in other cities from the East Coast to the West Coast.
Organizers are planning vigils, marches and demonstrations across the U.S. over the weekend.
Five former officers were indicted and jailed in connection to Nichols' death
Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith each face several charges, including second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.
Like Nichols, all of the former officers — who were fired before Thursday's indictments — are Black.
On Wednesday, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis released a video statement discussing "the horrific circumstances" of Nichols' death. She called it a professional failing and said "the incident was heinous, reckless and inhumane."
During a news conference announcing the indictments of the five officers, prosecutors gave new details about what happened during the traffic stop.
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said that while each of the five officers played a different role, "the actions of all of them resulted in the death of Tyre Nichols, and they are all responsible."
A grand jury returned indictments and delivered all five officers the same exact charges.
Less than three hours after officials released the body cam footage, Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner said two deputies who appeared at the scene of the arrest had been relieved of their duties pending the outcome of an internal investigation.
The Memphis police officers were part of a specialized team known as the SCORPION unit, an acronym for Street Crimes Operations to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods, that the department launched in 2021. A day after the release of the body cam video of Nichols' arrest, the Memphis Police Department said it would permanently disband the unit.
Other agencies are involved in the case
Crump, one of the family's attorneys, said during a news conference earlier this weekthat police used a stun gun and pepper spray on Nichols in addition to restraining him during the arrest.
"Yet again, we're seeing evidence of what happens to Black and brown people from simple traffic stops," Crump said. "You should not be killed because of a simple traffic stop."
In a statement following Thursday's news conference, Crump said although the five officers have been indicted, policing in the U.S. needs a great deal of reform.
"This tragedy meets the absolute definition of a needless and unnecessary death. Tyre's loved ones' lives were forever changed when he was beaten to death, and we will keep saying his name until justice is served," he said.
The police chief said earlier this week that the five officers violated multiple department policies, "including excessive use of force, duty to intervene, and duty to render aid."
Two Memphis Fire Department employees were also "relieved of duty" as an internal investigation is being conducted.
Memphis Fire Department spokesperson Qwanesha Ward told NPR that the employees — who were not identified — were "involved in the initial patient care" of Nichols. She did not go into further details.
The Justice Department and the FBI have also launched a civil rights investigation into Nichols' death and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation launched a separate investigation.
NPR's Joe Hernandez contributed to this report. contributed to this story
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
Click here to view the article
_________________________________________________________________
January 28, 2023
BBC News reports "Police kick and punch Tyre Nichols during violent arrest in Memphis"
Expletive-filled footage shows Memphis Police drag Tyre Nichols from his car, in the moments before the deadly beating in Tennessee.
Click here to view the entire article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 10:02 PM
WKNO-FM reports "MPD Releases Videos of Tyre Nichols Beating"
The City of Memphis released four videos on Friday, Jan. 27, at exactly 6 p.m. that public officials have promised since an excessive force investigation began almost immediately after the initial incident on Jan. 7.
Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black male, was stopped for reckless driving. In the first video, he is roughly pulled from his vehicle as police officers almost immediately deploy pepper spray and tasers. Nichols fled the scene and was pursued.
In the subsequent three videos, cameras provide various angles of his apprehension, when five officers, in an apparent attempt to get Nichols' hands behind his back and place him on the ground, kick, punch, pepper space and baton him for approximately three minutes.
Nichols is left writhing on the ground, handcuffed and unaided, for almost a half hour.
These videos led to the firing and subsequent indictment of five Memphis police officers on multiple charges including second degree murder.
WKNO has published these videos because of their historical importance. For those who do not wish to view them, we include the following detailed descriptions of their contents. These descriptions also contain uncensored adult language.
Click here to read the full article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 9:38 PM
Giulia Heyward with NPR reports "Mostly peaceful protests held across the U.S. after release of Tyre Nichols footage"
Updated January 28, 2023 at 3:36 AM ET
Numerous mostly peaceful protests were held across the U.S. following Friday's release of body camera footage of the killing of Tyre Nichols. All five officers involved in Nichols' arrest were fired and charged with second-degree murder, assault and kidnapping earlier this week.
Protests in some cities led to the calling of the National Guard, while others affected transit.
In Memphis, where Nichols died, 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. They chanted "no justice, no peace" and "justice for Tyre," closing the bridge for nearly three hours before peacefully disbanding.
In other parts of Memphis, people gathered in churches or small groups to reflect on the wrenching and somber moment for the city.
Protesters in Memphis have shut down the I-55 bridge. #TyreeNichols #Protests pic.twitter.com/2tklAs8ydr
— Jose Correa (@__JoseCorrea__) January 28, 2023
Officials shut down Grand Central Station in anticipation of protests in New York City, where demonstrators had gathered in Times Square.A protest and march in Boston halted traffic.
A protest in downtown Los Angeles became tense when a small group protesters gathered outside of Los Angeles Police Department headquarters, which was blocked by police in riot gear, according to the Los Angeles Times. Protesters tore town a protective barricade around the building, but there were no immediate reports of arrests.
Other small, but mostly peaceful protests, were also held in Washington, D.C., in Seattle, Detroit and Atlanta, as well as in other cities.
Officials had been preparing for nationwide protests in the days leading up to the release of the footage. President Joe Biden called the videos "horrific," while Antonio Romanucci, a lawyer representing the Nichols family, said the 29-year-old was treated like a "human piñata."
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency this week, and members of the National Guard can be seen in Atlanta, attempting to curb protesters.People could also be seen protesting outside the White House hours after Biden urged citizens "not to resort to violence or destruction."
Also on Friday, White House officials also spoke with mayors in more than a dozen major cities — such as Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Chicago — to brief them on federal assistance.
"You put on a uniform, and what you think they are brothers? No, they are the slave patrol." - Chivona Newsome speaking at Union Square protest in New York City Following release of #TyreeNichols #TyreNichols tapes
— Oliya Scootercaster 📽️ (@ScooterCasterNY) January 28, 2023
Video by Ken Lopez (FNTV https://t.co/MKhP0GoHyj) pic.twitter.com/2SAdiEt18w
Nichols' family, including his mother, RowVaughn Wells, and his stepfather, Rodney Wells, asked protesters to remain peaceful.
"I don't want us burning up cities, tearing up our streets, because that's not what my son stood for," Wells said at a vigil for her son on Thursday.
Organizers are planning vigils, marches and demonstrations across the U.S. over the weekend.
Reporting from NPR's Debbie Elliott was included in this post.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 8:43 PM
Chuck and I are praying for the loved ones of Tyre Nichols and for peace in Memphis and across our state.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) January 28, 2023
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 8:00 PM
Virginia Lozano with NPR reports "PHOTOS: See protests unfold across the country after release of Tyre Nichols video"
Authorities in Memphis, Tenn., released body camera footage from the police killing of Tyre Nichols on Friday. This has sparked protests and calls for national police reform across the U.S.
Nichols was pulled over on Jan. 7 for a traffic stop. After trying to flee on foot, Nichols was brutally beaten by police. He died in a hospital three days later. Five officers were fired and charged with murder.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023
At 6 p.m., the City of Memphis released video footage related to the police beating of Tyre Nichols.
Four videos, included here with written descriptions, show Memphis Police subduing and beating Tyre Nichols on the night of Jan. 7.
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023
Tyre Nichols should have made it home to his family. Yet tonight, once again, America mourns a life brutally cut short at the hands of those sworn to protect and serve.
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) January 28, 2023
I join President Biden in his call for accountability and transparency. Read my full statement. pic.twitter.com/3c2Aq3M3Xu
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 5:45 PM
Chelsea Bailey & Holly Honderich with BBC News reports "Tyre Nichols: Memphis reckons with police killing by black officers"
At the VIP Barbershop less than a mile away from where Tyre Nichols was attacked by five Memphis Police officers, PJ, the shop's owner, described the moment he realised that Mr Nichols was from his community.
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023
My statement on the Tyre Nicholas case: pic.twitter.com/eumJlp8Lb8
— Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) January 28, 2023
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 5:44 PM
Consider This with NPR reports "In the Wake of Tyre Nichols' Death, Does Diversity Make A Difference In Policing?"
Five police officers have been charged with murder and other crimes in the wake of Tyre Nichols' death this month in Memphis. Nichols, who was Black, died after a traffic stop. All five of the officers facing charges are Black.
Since the deaths of George Floyd in 2020 and so many others, many police departments have vowed to diversify their forces as a way to help end police brutality and racism within their ranks. But does diversity in a police force make a difference? And what more can be done to reduce police violence?
We speak with Phillip Goff of the Center for Policing Equity about how the Tyre Nichols case speaks to larger issues with police department culture and diversity.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
This episode was produced by Brianna Scott, Lee Hale and Seyma Bayram. It was edited by Justine Kenin and William Troop. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 5:36 PM
BBC News reports "Tyre Nichols: Mother describes her grief at dying son's bedside"
The mother of a Memphis man who died after he was beaten by police during a traffic stop told the BBC of her grief upon seeing her son dying in hospital.
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 4:33 PM
Juliana Kim with NPR reports "
Videos like the Tyre Nichols footage can be traumatic. An expert shares ways to cope
"
Video footage of the moments leading up to Tyre Nichols' death, for which five Memphis police officers have been charged, is expected to be released later Friday.
Monnica Williams, a clinical psychologist and expert on race-based trauma, said videos containing violence and death are incredibly stressful and should be viewed sparingly.
"Seeing things that happen like this to other people from your community broadly can have some traumatizing effects, especially if you're part of a stigmatized of minoritized group that's often dealing with trauma like this," Williams told NPR.
Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, was beaten severely after being pulled over on suspicion of reckless driving on Jan. 7. He died in a hospital three days later.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said the recordings, which include body cam, dash cam and other surveillance footage, will be made public out of transparency sometime after 7 p.m. ET Friday. But she warned that the incident was "heinous, reckless and inhumane."
Here are some helpful reminders on how to cope.
Remember, you don't have to watch the video to stay informed about the case
Williams' main advice is to not watch the footage if you can.
"This is really the message I want people to have: Don't watch them," she said. "If you want to watch it, you should ask yourself, why do I want to watch this?"
She understands some people may be obligated to see it, depending on their job or connection to the case, but for the vast majority of people, violent videos tend to do more harm than good.
Williams added that there are other ways to stay informed on the case without seeing graphic videos or images, which tend to have a stronger effect on the brain than simply reading an article about it.
"These videos are not good for your mental health and they don't make us a better society," Williams said.
Before the footage is released, check in with yourself
In anticipation of the video and descriptions around it, Williams urges people to pause to assess how much information they can handle.
"Anxious or stressed or nervous? These might be good signs that you want to take it easy and maybe you don't need to watch it," she said.
Williams also recommends digesting the news and content in moderation depending on how they are feeling.
"People can wait until they feel ready. They don't have to do it right now," she said. "Or they can decide that they only want a small amount of information about what happened."
Signs of stress and trauma can show up immediately or in a few weeks
People can experience forms of post-traumatic stress disorder from watching distressing videos, Williams said. Those symptoms include trouble sleeping, having images replaying in your mind, or feeling jumpy, restless or moody.
Sometimes, those symptoms do not show up until later.
Williams pointed to a 2018 study in The Lancet about police killings and their spillover effects on the mental health of Black Americans. Research showed that Black people continued to be affected by a fatal encounter between police and an unarmed Black person months after first hearing about it.
Feeling numb can also be a sign of trauma and it should be taken as seriously as other symptoms, Williams added.
Lean on people you can trust and who can relate to how you're feeling
One of the best ways to deal with this kind of trauma is to talk to other people.
"Have conversations with people who get it and who are going to be a source of support and comfort," Williams said.
It is also important to "rebalance your sense of equilibrium," by taking time out of the office, going on a walk or a drive and spending time away from the news cycle and social media, she added.
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 3:33 PM
Juliana Kim with NPR reports "Videos like the Tyre Nichols footage can be traumatic. An expert shares ways to cope"
Video footage of the moments leading up to Tyre Nichols' death, for which five Memphis police officers have been charged, is expected to be released later Friday.
Monnica Williams, a clinical psychologist and expert on race-based trauma, said videos containing violence and death are incredibly stressful and should be viewed sparingly.
"Seeing things that happen like this to other people from your community broadly can have some traumatizing effects, especially if you're part of a stigmatized of minoritized group that's often dealing with trauma like this," Williams told NPR.
Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, was beaten severely after being pulled over on suspicion of reckless driving on Jan. 7. He died in a hospital three days later.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said the recordings, which include body cam, dash cam and other surveillance footage, will be made public out of transparency sometime after 7 p.m. ET Friday. But she warned that the incident was "heinous, reckless and inhumane."
Here are some helpful reminders on how to cope.
Remember, you don't have to watch the video to stay informed about the case
Williams' main advice is to not watch the footage if you can.
"This is really the message I want people to have: Don't watch them," she said. "If you want to watch it, you should ask yourself, why do I want to watch this?"
She understands some people may be obligated to see it, depending on their job or connection to the case, but for the vast majority of people, violent videos tend to do more harm than good.
Williams added that there are other ways to stay informed on the case without seeing graphic videos or images, which tend to have a stronger effect on the brain than simply reading an article about it.
"These videos are not good for your mental health and they don't make us a better society," Williams said.
Before the footage is released, check in with yourself
In anticipation of the video and descriptions around it, Williams urges people to pause to assess how much information they can handle.
"Anxious or stressed or nervous? These might be good signs that you want to take it easy and maybe you don't need to watch it," she said.
Williams also recommends digesting the news and content in moderation depending on how they are feeling.
"People can wait until they feel ready. They don't have to do it right now," she said. "Or they can decide that they only want a small amount of information about what happened."
Signs of stress and trauma can show up immediately or in a few weeks
People can experience forms of post-traumatic stress disorder from watching distressing videos, Williams said. Those symptoms include trouble sleeping, having images replaying in your mind, or feeling jumpy, restless or moody.
Sometimes, those symptoms do not show up until later.
Williams pointed to a 2018 study in The Lancet about police killings and their spillover effects on the mental health of Black Americans. Research showed that Black people continued to be affected by a fatal encounter between police and an unarmed Black person months after first hearing about it.
Feeling numb can also be a sign of trauma and it should be taken as seriously as other symptoms, Williams added.
Lean on people you can trust and who can relate to how you're feeling
One of the best ways to deal with this kind of trauma is to talk to other people.
"Have conversations with people who get it and who are going to be a source of support and comfort," Williams said.
It is also important to "rebalance your sense of equilibrium," by taking time out of the office, going on a walk or a drive and spending time away from the news cycle and social media, she added.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 3:29 PM
All Things Considered from NPR reports "In Memphis, people call for police reform after Tyre Nichols' killing"
NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Phillip Goff of the Center for Policing Equity about how the death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis speaks to larger issues with police department culture and diversity.
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 2:20 PM
Max Matza & Madeline Halpert with BBC News reports "Memphis braces for the release of Tyre Nichols arrest footage"
The family of a Memphis man who died after a traffic stop turned violent is calling for calm ahead of the release of a video of the police encounter.
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 2:02 PM
City of Memphis Fire Department releases a statement about the investigation into the death of Tyre Nichols
— Memphis Fire Department (@MEM_Fire) January 27, 2023
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 1:40 PM
Emily Olson and Becky Sullivan with NPR reports "Memphis braces for the release of Tyre Nichols arrest footage"
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 12:06 PM
Rachel Treisman with NPR reports "There's no way to prepare for the Tyre Nichols video, a Memphis pastor says"
Outrage is building over the case of Tyre Nichols, who died three days after Memphis police officers beat him during a traffic stop earlier this month.
The five officers, all of whom — like Nichols — are Black, have been fired as well as charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping. Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy has said "they are all responsible" for the death of the 29-year-old.
City officials plan to release body camera footage of the incident Friday night, and are bracing for protests to follow.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis has said she expects people will be outraged by "the disregard of basic human rights" and moved to protest, but asked that they do so without inciting violence or destruction.
Pastor Earle Fisher, a police reform advocate and the pastor at Abyssinian Missionary Baptist Church in Memphis, said he doesn't think there's anything local leaders can do to prepare the community for what they might see.
"I think I'm just prayerful that cooler heads will prevail and a lot of God's will will be done," he says. "And I know I've seen far too much Black death as a spectacle, and I'm not excited about trying to view another video of a Black man being killed by law enforcement."
Fisher spoke with Morning Edition's A Martínez about Nichols' case, including what concerns him most and how he finds hope.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 12:00 PM
BBC reports "Tyre Nichols' family speak before beating video released"
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 11:25 AM
Here & Now Anytime from NPR reports "Tyre Nichols' family lawyer on charges; Breaking barriers to Asian mental health care"
Tyre Nichols died at the hands of Memphis police officers earlier this month at what should have been a routine traffic stop. One of the attorneys representing Nichols' family, Antonio Romanucci, joins us.
Click here to read the full "Here & Now Anytime" segment.
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 11:00 AM
Max Matza with BBC News reports "Tyre Nichols: Memphis braces for police video release"
The city of Memphis is bracing for the release on Friday of a video of an arrest that led to a motorist's death.
Click here to read the full article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 10:51 AM
Emily Olsonwith NPR reports "Memphis braces for the release of Tyre Nichols arrest footage"
Memphis authorities say they're planning to release body camera footage from the police killing of Tyre Nichols, leaving cities across the U.S. on edge and bracing for a familiar ritual: protests, outrage and calls for national police reform.
Following Thursday's announcement of charges against the officers, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said the city would release body camera footage Friday after 6 p.m. CT.
In an email to NPR on Friday morning, the Memphis Police Department said they were still unsure of the exact timing of the release but it could come "sometime after 5:00 p.m. CT."
The video will be uploaded to YouTube in four different parts. Neighborhood surveillance video will appear alongside the body camera footage, all depicting a three-minute span of events leading to Nichols' death.
Nichols, a 29-year-old father and FedEx worker, was pulled over on Jan. 7 for what police said was reckless driving. After trying to flee on foot, Nichols was severely beaten by police. He died in a hospital three days later.
All five of the officers have since been fired, and are facing charges of second-degree murder, assault and kidnapping. State and federal authorities are also investigating the officers.
Lawyers and Nichols' family, who have privately viewed the video of Nichols' arrest, called it "appalling," "heinous," and "horrific."
It shows Nichols being savagely beaten, kicked, pepper-sprayed and struck with a stun gun, according to one of the Nichols' family lawyers.
"He was a human piñata," said lawyer Antonio Romanucci. "It was an unadulterated, unabashed, non-stop beating of this young boy for three minutes."
Nichols' family lawyers call for an investigation into 'saturation patrols'
Activists are already calling for reform in Memphis and across the nation, with many asking for a completely overhauled approach to policing.
Amber Sherman, a local Black Lives Matter organizer, told NPR's Debbie Elliot, "The only way for us to end the injustice that keeps happening and the murders of black people that keep happening is to stop using police for traffic enforcement."
In a statement released Friday morning, Nichols family attorney Ben Crump said the true cause of Nichols' death was "policing culture itself, not something Tyre personally did."
Crump called on the DOJ to investigate "saturation patrols," which he says involve big teams of police patrolling neighborhoods in the name of decreasing violent crime, but actually just foster a "wolf pack" mindset. Crump claims the five officers who beat Nichols were part of such a unit.
Memphis authorities urge protestors to stay peaceful after the video's release
In a video statement released Thursday, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said the city would initiate an outside review of its specialized units, saying it was clear that the officers violated local policies and training practices.
National leaders like the Rev. Al Sharpton have said the police brutality against Nichols was even more painful because of the officers' race. All five officers, like Nichols, are Black.
"We fought to put Blacks on the police force," he told the BBC. "For them to act in such a brutal way is more egregious than I can tell you. [...] I do not believe these five black police officers would have done this had he been a young white man."
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis, the first Black woman to hold the city's top police role, pledged "absolute accountability" for those responsible for Nichols' death, but asked for the city to stay calm in the meantime.
"I expect you to feel outrage at the disregard of basic human rights as our police officers have taken an oath to do the opposite of what transpired on the video," she said. "But we need to ensure our community is safe in this process."
Nichols' mother RowVaughn Wells urged the same approach, but for a personal reason.
"I don't want us burning up cities, tearing up our streets, because that's not what my son stood for," she said at a vigil for Nichols Thursday evening.
Memphis area schools canceled all after-class activities and postponed Saturday school events as an extra precaution, the Associated Press reports. Some local businesses, including the Memphis Power Co. and the University of Memphis, were also planning to close early.
Cities were already bracing for protests following a police killing in Atlanta
President Biden joined Nichols' family in their grief on Thursday, saying "outrage is understandable, but violence is never acceptable."
Biden also called Nichols' death a "painful reminder" of the need to reform law enforcement, calling on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would ban certain policing techniques and create a national database of police misconduct.
Cities across the U.S. were already braced for protest this week after demonstrators took to the streets in Atlanta to protest the police killing of 26-year-old Manuel Esteban Perez.
Perez and other social justice activists were protesting a new police training center known as "Cop City" that is planned for what was once a 300-acre Atlanta forest.
Fierce opposition to the development erupted in unrest and vandalism last week. Six people were charged with domestic terrorism related to the riots.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp issued a state of emergency order on Thursday, authorizing 1,000 National Guard troops to be called up until Feb. 9.
CBS reports that police nationwide have been coordinating a response to possible protests since Monday. On a call last night, police departments across the country were told the body camera footage would be released today.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
Click here to read the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 10:00 AM
Sam Hancock with BBC News reports "Tyre Nichols bodycam footage: What we know about the arrest video"
Video footage of 29-year-old father Tyre Nichols being beaten by police in Memphis is being released later, with the city braced for protests. So what do we know about what is in it?
Click here to read the complete article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 7:19 AM
Leila Fadel and Debbie Elliot with NPR repors "5 ex-Memphis officers are charged with the murder of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols"
Five Black former Memphis police officers have been charged with murder in the death of Black motorist Tyre Nichols. He was beaten during a traffic stop and died several days later in the hospital.
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 7:00 AM
Oliver Slow with BBC News reports "Tyre Nichols: Family remembers 'a beautiful soul'"
The family of Tyre Nichols, a black man whose death following a traffic stop in Tennessee has placed a fresh spotlight on police brutality in the United States, describes him as a "beautiful soul" with a passion for skateboarding, sunsets and photography.
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 6:05 AM
Up First from NPR reports "Police Officers Charged in Tyre Nichols Case, GOP Identity, Overseeing Virus Research"
Five police officers are charged in the death of Tyre Nichols, Republicans disagree on what it means to be conservative, U.S. officials weigh how to oversee risky virus research.
_________________________________________________________________
January 27, 2023 at 5:06 AM
A Martínez with NPR reports "5 fired Memphis police officers are charged with the murder of Tyre Nichols"
NPR's A Martinez talks to Memphis pastor Earle Fisher about the killing of Tyre Nichols, who died after a confrontation with police. Five fired officers are now facing murder and other charges.
_________________________________________________________________
January 26, 2023
— Gov. Bill Lee (@GovBillLee) January 26, 2023
_________________________________________________________________
January 26, 2023 at 4:38 PM
City of Memphis Mayor Jim Stickland makes a statement regarding Tyre Nichols.
City of Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland statement regarding Tyre Nichols
— CityofMem_Media (@CityofMem_Media) January 26, 2023
Thursday, January 26, 2023 pic.twitter.com/QZGxLN9IBx
“Since learning of this tragic event, transparency and swift methodical action have been our top priorities because the family of Mr. Nichols and our citizens deserve nothing less. The actions of these officers were awful, and no one, including law enforcement, is above the law. I assure you we will do everything we can to keep this type of heinous act from happening again.
In this case, I want to thank Chief Davis and her team for moving quickly with the administrative procedure resulting in termination and District Attorney Mulroyfor taking deliberate actions in bringing these indictments forward. We have worked to get a resolution to these matters in record time because we take them extremely seriously.
As we have said all along, we wanted to ensure the proper legal steps were followed and that the family of Mr. Nichols had the opportunity to view the video footage privately before we released it to the public. In light of those matters occurring, we will be releasing the video to the public sometime Friday after 6pm.
It is clear that these officers violated the department’s policies and training. But we are doing everything we can to prevent this from happening again. We are initiating an outside, independent review ofthe training, policies, and operations of our specialized units.
Lastly, I am sad and angry for the family of Tyre Nichols. I am also angry for the many good men and women of the Memphis Police Department who devote their lives to serving our citizens. We must all work to regain the public’s trust and work together to heal the wounds these events have caused.” – Mayor Jim Strickland
_________________________________________________________________
January 26, 2023 at 4:29 PM
Katie Riordan with WKNO-FM reports "5 Black ex-Memphis cops are jailed and charged with murder for Tyre Nichols death"
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
Prosecutors in Memphis today charged five former police officers with murder in the beating death of Black motorist Tyre Nichols. The recordings of the beating are described as especially horrific and lacking humanity. Those videos are set to be released publicly tomorrow. The five former officers, all of whom are Black, turned themselves in and were jailed. They could all bond out. Reporter Katie Riordan of member station WKNO in Memphis is following this story. Katie, first, what did prosecutors say today about these indictments?
KATIE RIORDAN, BYLINE: Yeah. So the Shelby County district attorney, Steve Mulroy, gave a brief statement to the press. He said that a grand jury indicted all five of the former officers on the same charges earlier today. They include second degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and official misconduct, among others. Here's District Attorney Mulroy speaking today.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
STEVE MULROY: While each of the five individuals played a different role in the incident in question, the actions of all of them resulted in the death of Tyre Nichols, and they are all responsible.
SHAPIRO: Katie, tell us about what happened that night of the incident.
RIORDAN: Yeah. So this all started with a traffic stop on the night of January 7. These officers, who were part of a special unit, stopped Nichols for what they said was reckless driving. And not long after, the DA said there was an altercation. The officers used pepper spray, then Nichols fled on foot. And there was another altercation a little bit later, where the DA said the serious injuries happened, referring to the beating. Nichols family says this all happened within 100 yards of their home. They say he was just trying to get there. Nichols was taken to a hospital in critical condition, and he died three days later. The DA said...
SHAPIRO: Let's talk...
RIORDAN: Yeah, I was just going to say the DA took a moment to reflect on Nichols today. Loved ones have called the 29-year-old a near perfect son who enjoyed skateboarding and watching sunsets at the park. He was also a dad. He had a 4-year-old boy.
SHAPIRO: Let's talk about what's on those recordings that are set to be released tomorrow. Any sense of what they show?
RIORDAN: Well, we haven't seen them yet, but authorities, the family of Nichols and a few others have. And they describe them as appalling. And in discussing those recordings today, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation director, David Rausch, simply said this.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DAVID RAUSCH: This shouldn't have happened. I've been policing for more than 30 years. I've devoted my life to this profession. And I'm grieved. Frankly, I'm shocked. I'm sickened by what I saw. It's absolutely appalling.
RIORDAN: These recordings, though, include body cam, dash cam and other surveillance footage. And authorities say the City of Memphis will now release them to the public sometime tomorrow after 6 p.m. Central. They've asked for people to be calm, especially in light of these murder charges being brought. But they are preparing for demonstrations, and they fear some could turn violent.
SHAPIRO: Have the former police officers or their attorneys spoken today?
RIORDAN: They did. Late today, two of the attorneys representing two of the former officers spoke to the media. They said not to prejudge what happened and to wait for all the evidence to come out and that there's, quote, "two sides to every story." The defense team said there was no one there that night that wanted Mr. Nichols to die. Memphis' police chief - excuse me - also released a video statement last night. She discussed what she called the, quote, "horrific circumstances" of Nichols' death and that it was not just a professional failing, but that the incident was, quote, "heinous, reckless and inhumane." We should also mention that the funeral for Tyre Nichols is scheduled for next Wednesday.
SHAPIRO: That's Katie Riordan of member station WKNO in Memphis, Tenn. Thank you.
RIORDAN: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
Click here to view article and listen to this segment.
_________________________________________________________________
January 26, 2023
President Joe Biden releases a statement on the Tyre Nichols case.
Click here to read the President's statement.
_________________________________________________________________
January 26, 2023 at 3:43 PM
Behind the Headlines has a "Journalist Roundtable on the Investigation Into Tyre Nichols' Death"
On January 7, 2023, Tyre Nichols was stopped for reckless driving. The traffic stop resulted in the physical abuse of Nichols, which contributed to his death on January 10th. Five members of the Memphis Police Department (MPD), who all served on the SCORPION unit, have been indicted in the death of Nichols says Daily Memphian reporter Julia Baker.
Baker joins host Eric Barnes for a journalist roundtable this week's WKNO/Channel 10 Behind the Headlines with The Memphis Flyer's Toby Sells, The New Tri-State Defender's Karanja Ajanaku, and The Daily Memphain's Bill Dries. Guests discuss what led to the passing of Nichols and how local officials are handling the case.
In addition, guests briefly discuss bail reform.
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 26, 2023
BBC News reports "Tennessee official 'sickened' by footage of Tyre Nichols arrest"
_________________________________________________________________
January 26, 2022 at 2:57 PM
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy's office publishes a press release announcing "charges in Tyre Nichols investigation"
_________________________________________________________________
January 26, 2022
Tennessee Representative Steve Cohen speaks about the death of Tyre Nichols
_________________________________________________________________
January 26, 2022
Shelby County Criminal Court releases indictment documents of 5 MPD officers involved in the assault on Tyre Nichols.
Click here to view the whole indictment PDF.
_________________________________________________________________
January 26, 2022 at 2:00 PM
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation publishes a Media Release stating "Use-Of-Force Case Leads To Indictments, Arrests"
_________________________________________________________________
January 26, 2023 at 2:00 PM
District Attorney Steve Mulroy holds press conference on the Tyre Nichols investigation.
- City of Memphis will release incident video sometime after 6 p.m. Friday. (statement to come).
- Grand jury returns indictments against all five officers with the same charges: second degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping involving possession of weapons, official misconduct, and official oppression.
- Mulroy says they are "all responsible" for death of Tyre Nichols.
- TBI Director David Rausch: "I'm shocked, sickened by what I saw... in a word it's absolutely appalling."
_________________________________________________________________
January 26, 2023 at 12:41 PM
Russell Lewis with NPR reports "5 Memphis ex-police charged with murder and jailed over beating death of Tyre Nichols".
Five former Memphis Police officers have been indicted and jailed in the beating death of Tyre Nichols.
The five former officers each face a litany of charges, including second degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. The five officers were fired last week after the traffic stop. Nichols died in the hospital a few days after the beating.
Last night, the Memphis Police Chief put out a video statement discussing "the horrific circumstances" of Nichols' death. She called it a professional failing and said that "the incident was heinous, reckless and inhumane."
At 3 p.m. ET, the Shelby County District Attorney is scheduled to hold a news conference discussing these charges.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
_________________________________________________________________
January 26, 2023 at 12:30 PM
The five Memphis Police officers fired in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols have been charged with second-degree murder, acting in concert of aggravated assault, two aggravated kidnapping charges, two official misconduct charges and official oppression.
The officers, Emmitt Martin III, 30; Tadarrius Bean, 24; Justin Smith, 28; Demetrius Haley, 30; and Desmond Mills Jr., 32, were booked into Shelby County Jail this morning following a grand jury indictment.
_________________________________________________________________
January 26, 2023 at 10:00 AM
Max Matza with BBC News reports "Tyre Nichols: What is the 'Scorpion' unit of Memphis police?"
Some of the five ex-officers in Memphis charged with the murder of Tyre Nichols were part of an elite crime-fighting unit that is now under scrutiny.
Click here to view the full article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 26, 2023
Mike Wendling with BBC News reports "Autopsy indicates Tyre Nichols was beaten by police - lawyers"
An autopsy indicates that a black man who died after being stopped by police in Tennessee was severely beaten, his family's lawyers say.
Click here to view the complete article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 26, 2023 at 3:38 AM
Ayana Archie with NPR reports "Memphis police chief calls treatment of Tyre Nichols a 'failing of basic humanity'".
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said Wednesday that her officers' treatment of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols, who died three days after a traffic stop, was a "failing of basic humanity."
Nichols, who was Black, died on Jan. 10, days after being pulled over for reckless driving. He fled the scene of the traffic stop but was ultimately taken into custody after what police said were two "confrontations" with officers.
Authorities said Nichols complained of "shortness of breath" after his arrest and was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Nichols' family said the police beat him so badly that he became unrecognizable.
Five Memphis police officers, who are all Black, and two Memphis Fire Department employees, were fired as a result of the incident.
The following is an excerpt of Davis's statement:
CERELYN DAVIS: In light of the horrific circumstances surrounding the death of Tyre Nichols, it is absolutely incumbent upon me, your chief, to address the status of what the Memphis Police Department is doing, has done and will continue to do in furtherance of finding truth in this tragic loss – ensuring we communicate with honesty and transparency, and that there is absolute accountability for those responsible for Tyre's death.
These officers were found to be directly responsible for the physical abuse of Mr. Nichols. Concurrent within that investigation, other MPD officers are still under investigation for department policy violations. Some infractions are less egregious than others. As this investigation and other external investigations continue, I promise full and complete cooperation from the Memphis Police Department with the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Shelby County District Attorney's office to determine the entire scope of facts that contributed to Tyre Nichols' death.
Aside from being your chief of police, I am a citizen of this community we share. I am a mother. I am a caring human being who wants the best for all of us. This is not just a professional failing. This is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual. This incident was heinous, reckless, and inhumane. And in the vein of transparency, when the video is released in the coming days, you will see this for yourselves.
I expect you to feel what the Nichols family feels. I expect you to feel outrage in the disregard of basic human rights, as our police officers have taken an oath to do the opposite of what transpired on the video. I expect our citizens to exercise their First Amendment right to protest, to demand action and results. But we need to ensure our community is safe in this process. None of this is a calling card for inciting violence or destruction on our community or against our citizens.
In our hurt, in our outrage and frustration, there's still work to be done to build each other up to continue the momentum of improving our police and community relationships and partnerships, to show those who watch us now that this behavior is not what will define our community and our great city.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 26, 2023 at 12:27 AM
Katie Riordan with WKNO-FM reports "Head Of MPD Says Officers Disregarded 'Basic Human Rights' in Treatment of Tyre Nichols".
Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis says the conduct of five officers who her department found were directly responsible for physically abusing Tyre Nichols was “heinous, reckless and inhumane.”
“I expect you to feel what [Tyre] Nichols’ family feels. I expect you to feel outrage in the disregard of basic human rights,” she said in a roughly four-minute video statement released late Wednesday night.
It is the first time she has addressed the incident publicly outside of written statements.
Nichols, a 29-year-old father and FedEx employee, died three days after officers pulled him over for reckless driving on Jan. 7. They proceeded to eventually arrest him after what they initially reported as a foot chase and two "confrontations" with him.
His family and attorneys, who have seen video footage from the encounter, say officers beat a defenseless Nichols for three minutes, treating him like a “human pinata.” They compared it to the 1991 beating of Rodney King at the hands of law enforcement in Los Angeles.
Following an internal investigation, MPD dismissed the five officers last Friday for excessive use of force and failures to intervene and render aid.
“This is not just a professional failing, this is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual,” Davis said.
She added that other officers are still under review in connection to the incident.
“Some infractions are less egregious than others,” Davis said without providing further details.
Two Memphis Fire Department employees are also currently suspended while they undergo an internal investigation. The employees were involved in the initial patient care of Nichols.
Davis said video footage from the incident will be released publicly in the coming days and asked that any demonstrations in response remain peaceful.
“I expect our citizens to exercise their First Amendment right to protest to demand action and results, but we need to ensure our community is safe in this process” she said. “None of this is a calling card for inciting violence or destruction on our community or against our citizens.”
In addition to cooperating with ongoing criminal investigations of the incident, moving forward, Davis committed to reevaluate policies and procedures at the department, specifically in regard to specialized units. All five fired officers were part of what’s known as the special SCORPION initiative that focuses on areas of the city with elevated levels of crime, according to reporting from the Daily Memphian.
“It is my intent as a proactive measure to ensure that a complete and independent review is conducted on all of the Memphis Police Department's specialized units and the commitment of my executive leadership to ensure the policies and procedures are adhered to in our daily encounters with the citizens we are sworn to serve,” she said.
_________________________________________________________________
January 25, 2023 at 10:00 PM
Memphis police Department Chief Cerelyn "C.J." Davis' remarks on the death of Tyre Nichols.
- Orders investigation of all specialized police units.
- Says additional officers will be investigated in the Tyre Nichols incident.
- Five officers were members of MPD's SCORPION unit.
_________________________________________________________________
January 25, 2023 at 7:57 PM
Katie Riordan with WKNO-FM reports "Federal Prosecutor Intends 'Diligent' Civil Rights Investigation for Tyre Nichols"
A federal civil rights probe continues in the death of Tyre Nichols, who was hospitalized and then died days after Memphis Police officers arrested him earlier this month.
Reading froma prepared statementon Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Kevin Ritz said prosecutors are investigating whether Nichols’ civil rights were violated after law enforcement reportedly stopped him for reckless driving on Jan. 7.
His family’s attorneys say a yet to be publicly released video of the encounter shows officers beating a “defenseless” Nichols and compared it to Los Angeles police officers' assault of Rodney King in 1991.
Ritz, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, has met with Nichols’ family.
“I told them this federal civil rights investigation will be thorough, it will be methodical, and it will continue until we gather all the relevant facts,” Ritz said, also noting that “I want this city to be a place where justice is done.”
He declined to take questions, but said decisions will be based on “facts and the law” and that the investigative process will require more time. While Ritz encouraged people to exercise their “right to be heard” regarding the pending release of video footage from Nichols arrest, he requested any demonstrations remain peaceful.
Local and state authorities have not yet specified when video footage from the scene will be publicly shared but have said they expect it to be before the end of next week.
Memphis officials showed the Nichols’ family and their legal team video on Monday. Attorneys called the footage “deplorable,” “heinous” and lacking humanity as they say officers beat Nichols for three minutes.
MPD has fired five officers for infractionsduring the arrest ranging from excessive use of force to failure to intervene or render aid.
The department initially reported a foot chase and two confrontations with Nichols before taking him into custody. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition after he "complained of having a shortness of breath," MPD said.
The Memphis Fire Department has also suspended two employees who were involved in the initial care of Nichols until an internal investigation is completed.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is conducting its own examination of the officers’ actions, which could serve as the basis for Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy to bring criminal charges.
At Mulroy’s request, Nichols’ family has agreed the video should be released in a manner that does not compromise the completion of the investigation, but in no more than two weeks’ time.
In his most recent statement on Monday, Mulory said his office is working to expedite the multiple investigations and is “consulting regularly with the City of Memphis about the video's release, which we expect will occur this week or next.”
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 25, 2023
U.S. Attorney Kevin G. Ritz sends out a press release regarding investigation.
_________________________________________________________________
January 25, 2023
BBC News reports "Emotional testimony by residents over deadly traffic stop" at Memphis City Council meeting.
_________________________________________________________________
January 24, 2023 at 7:48 PM
Jonathan Franklin and Joe Hernandezwith NPR report "2 Memphis Fire Department employees are 'relieved of duty' after Tyre Nichols' death"
Two Memphis, Tenn., fire department employees have been "relieved of duty" while an internal investigation is conductedin connection with the death of Tyre Nichols, a Black man who died days after a traffic stop on Jan. 7.
Memphis Fire Department spokesperson Qwanesha Ward told NPR the employees — who were not identified — were "involved in the initial patient care" of Nichols. She did not go into further details.
"This is an ongoing investigation, and we cannot comment further at this time," Ward said.
Nichols died on Jan. 10, three days after he was stopped by Memphis police for reckless driving. The 29-year-old fled the scene of the traffic stop but eventually was taken into custody after what Memphis police saywere two "confrontations" with its officers.
Nichols had complained of shortness of breath following his arrest and was taken to the hospital in critical condition, authorities said. His family said the police beat him so badly that he became unrecognizable.
Attorney Ben Crump, one of the family's attorneys, told reporters during a news conference Monday that Nichols was tased, pepper sprayed and restrained during the incident — part of which occurred nearly 80 yards from where he lived with his mother and stepfather.
Crump said that, in body camera footage of the incident, Nichols could be heard calling out for his mother.
"Yet again, we're seeing evidence of what happens to Black and brown people from simple traffic stops," he said. "You should not be killed because of a simple traffic stop."
Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells, told reporters during Monday's news conference that her son didn't do drugs or carry guns. She questioned why police felt the need to violently arrest him.
"He had my name tattooed on his arm, and that made me proud, because most kids don't put their mom's name, but he did," she said.
Five Memphis police officers have already been fired
The Memphis Police Department announced last week it had concluded its administrative investigation into Nichols' death, saying it had fired five officers: Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr. and Justin Smith.
Like Nichols, all of the dismissed officers are Black.
In a statement posted to Twitter, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn 'CJ' Davis said the officers had violated multiple police department policies — including excessive use of force, duty to intervene and duty to render aid.
"The Memphis Police Department is committed to protecting and defending the rights of every citizen in our city," Davis said in her statement. "The egregious nature of this incident is not a reflection of the good work that our officers perform, with integrity, every day."
Video footage still has not been released to the public
Additionally, the Shelby County District Attorney's Office said in its statement it understood the "reasonable request from the public" to view the video of Nichols' death. The office said it was working to determine how quickly it could release the footage.
"Our office is committed to transparency and understands the reasonable request from the public to view the video footage. However, we must ensure we abide by applicable laws and ethical rules so that we do not jeopardize an ongoing investigation or prosecution," the district attorney's office said.
The Justice Department and the FBI have launched a civil rights investigation into Nichols' death alongside the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation launching its own separate investigation.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 24, 2023 at 5:09 AM
Katie Riordan with WKNO-FM reports on Morning Edition "Video of Tyre Nichols' deadly traffic stop expected to be released within 2 weeks"
Attorneys for the Black man who died after a traffic stop say video shows Memphis, Tenn., police beating him like a "human piñata." Lawyers and Nichols' family saw the video for the first time Monday.
_________________________________________________________________
January 23, 2023 at 8:18 PM
Christopher Blank with WKNO-FM reports "Memphis Police Beating Video Compared to Rodney King Incident"
The family of Tyre Nichols has agreed to delay the release of video purportedly showing Memphis Police beating the 29-year-old man after he ran from a traffic stop.
At a press conference Monday at Mt. Olive Cathedral CME Church in Downtown Memphis, the family's lawyers said they wanted to give the District Attorney's office, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the FBI time to finish investigating the incident without jeopardizing any potential criminal charges that may be brought.
Using words like "appalling," "deplorable" and "troublesome on every level," the prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump compared the video footage seen for the first time today by family members to the infamous 1992 Rodney King beating by L.A. police.
"And unlike Rodney King, Tyre didn't survive," Crump added.
A fuller picture emerged about the Jan. 7 incident, which has been short on specifics since the embargo on official information stemming from ongoing internal investigations.
Lawyers say Nichols can be heard asking "What did I do?" at a traffic stop for reckless driving near his home. They say uniformed police officers then escalated a confrontation. Nichols fled on foot. They say he can be heard on the video calling out for his mother several times before being caught by police, about 80 yards from his home.
"He was a human piñata for those police officers," said co-counsel Antonio Romanucci. "It was an unadulterated, unabashed nonstop beating of this young boy for three minutes. That is what we saw in that video."
Nichols died three days later at St. Francis Hospital in East Memphis. Attorney Crump says an independent autopsy is being conducted by Dr. Allecia Wilson, one of the pathologists hired by the family of George Floyd following his death in police custody, also captured on video.
Family members reiterated that Nichols would have presented an unlikely threat to officers. He worked for FedEx, enjoyed skateboarding, photography, and spending mornings at Starbucks. Though he was tall, his struggles with Crohn's disease contributed to his slender build at about 145 pounds. Romanucci described him as "defenseless."
His stepfather, Rodney Wells, said the family had been asked repeatedly why his son ran from the police.
"He ran because he was scared for his life," Wells said. "And when you see the video, you will see why he was scared for his life."
Five police officers involved in the incident were fired last Friday. And ahead of Monday's press conference, two members of the Memphis Fire Departmentwere also relieved of duty related to the emergency treatment of Nichols. That investigation is continuing.
In a statement, District Attorney Steve Mulroy said releasing the footage immediately could compromise the ongoing investigations. Crump said local authorities have committed to release the "multiple" videos in under two weeks. It is not clear how many or what types of videos were seen.
The attorneys were cautious about providing too many details, but mentioned the use of kicking, a Taser, pepper spray and restraints. Police originally reported that Nichols was hospitalized for "shortness of breath," but photos from his hospital bed the morning after the incident show him unconscious on a bloody pillow with a breathing tube and his eyes swollen shut.
"You should not be killed because of a simple traffic stop," Crump said. "We have to make sure there is justice for Tyre because we want to prevent this from ever happening again... We don't want next week to see another video of a Black person losing their life because of a traffic violation."
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 23, 2023
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy releases a statement about meeting with the family of Tyre Nichols and about video release of his death.
Statement from DA Steve Mulroy. pic.twitter.com/8rdYH3HsQ5
— Shelby County District Attorney’s Office (@ShelbyCountyDA) January 23, 2023
_________________________________________________________________
January 23, 2023 at 10:43 AM
Joe Hernandezwith NPR reports "Tyre Nichols was 'defenseless' during his 'savage' beating by police, attorneys say"
Updated January 23, 2023 at 6:08 PM ET
Tyre Nichols was "defenseless" during the "savage" beating by Memphis police officers that preceded his death earlier this month, attorneys for his family said at a Monday press conference.
Earlier in the day, law enforcement officials privately met with Nichols' family members and their attorneys to show them video footage of the police stop, which has not yet been released to the public.
Attorney Antonio Romanucci described a violent scene. "He was a human piñata for those police officers," Romanucci said. "It was an unadulterated, unabashed nonstop beating of this young boy for three minutes."
Attorney Ben Crump said the video reminded him of the infamous video of Los Angeles police beating Rodney King in 1991.
Nichols, who was Black, died on Jan. 10, three days after he was stopped by Memphis police for reckless driving. He fled the scene of the traffic stop but was ultimately taken into custody after what police said were two "confrontations" with officers.
Authorities said the 29-year-old Nichols complained of "shortness of breath" after his arrest and was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Nichols' family said the police beat him so badly that he became unrecognizable.
Crump, one of the family's attorneys, said Nichols was tased, pepper sprayed and restrained during the incident, part of which occurred about 80 yards from where Nichols lived with his mother and stepfather. Crump said Nichols could be heard calling out for his mother just before the video ended.
"Yet again, we're seeing evidence of what happens to Black and brown people from simple traffic stops," he said. "You should not be killed because of a simple traffic stop."
Authorities promised Nichols' family that they would release video of the incident to the public in one to two weeks, Crump said.
Nichols mother, RowVaughn Wells, said her son didn't do drugs or carry guns, and questioned why police felt they had to violently arrest him.
Wells remembered her son as a "beautiful soul" who loved to take photographs of the sunset. "He had my name tattooed on his arm, and that made me proud, because most kids don't put their mom's name, but he did," she said.
A photo that has circulated in news reports and on social media shows a badly bruised Nichols lying in a hospital bed after his arrest.
Multiple investigations are underway
Last week the Memphis Police Department said it had concluded its administrative investigation into Nichols' death and announced it had fired five officers: Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr. and Justin Smith. Like Nichols, all of the officers are Black.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn 'CJ' Davis said the officers had violated multiple police department policies, including excessive use of force, duty to intervene and duty to render aid.
"The Memphis Police Department is committed to protecting and defending the rights of every citizen in our city," Davis said in a statement. "The egregious nature of this incident is not a reflection of the good work that our officers perform, with integrity, every day."
The Shelby County District Attorney's Office said it understood the "reasonable request from the public" to view the video of Nichols death and that it was working to determine how quickly it could release the footage and would do so as soon as possible.
"However, we must ensure we abide by applicable laws and ethical rules so that we do not jeopardize an ongoing investigation or prosecution," the office said.
The Justice Department and the FBI are investigating Nichol's death, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has also launched its own inquiry.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
Click here to view the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 23, 2023
Memphis Police Department & City Administration met with the family of Tyre Nichols.
— Memphis Police Dept (@MEM_PoliceDept) January 23, 2023
_________________________________________________________________
January 20, 2023 at 10:01 PM
Katie Riordan with WKNO-FM reports "MPD Officers Fired for Use of Excessive Force and Other Violations While Arresting Tyre Nichols"
Following an internal investigation and administrative hearings, the Memphis Police Department on Friday fired five officers involved in the arrest of Tyre Nichols, who died days after the encounter.
Nichols, a 29-year-old father and FedEx employee, was pulled over on the night of Jan. 7 for reckless driving and was hospitalized after what the MPD described as two "confrontations" with officers. He died on Jan. 10.
MPD Chief CJ Davis called the death “tragic” in a statement and said officers were terminated for using excessive force, failing to intervene and failing to render aid.
“The egregious nature of this incident is not a reflection of the good work that our officers perform, with integrity, every day,” she said.
Her statement did not specify which officer committed which violations. The city intends to make video footage of the incident public next week after Nichols’ family views it. They, along with their attorney, are expected to meet with officials on Monday.
MPD named the five officers: Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith.
Both Bean and Haley joined the police force in August 2020, and Martin and Smith joined in March 2018. Mills was hired one year earlier in March 2017.
No other information was released about their records with the police force.
The police department initially reported that a "confrontation" took place as officers approached Nichols’ car on Jan. 7. According to MPD, Nichols fled and another confrontation followed as he was apprehended. An ambulance transported him to hospital in critical condition after he complained of a shortness of breath, the department said.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is currently examining the officers’ use of force. Findings from the agency’s investigation could serve as the basis for the Shelby County District Attorney to bring possible criminal charges.
The officers’ termination from the police force is a result of MPD’s own internal investigation.
The union that represents the city's officers declined to comment on the dismissal, citing the ongoing criminal investigation.
"The citizens of Memphis, and more importantly, the family of Mr. Nichols deserve to know the complete account of the events leading up to his death and what may have contributed to it," Essica Cage-Rosario, the president of the Memphis Police Association, said in a statement.
Lawyers representing the Nichols’ family praised MPD's decision and said they will continue to push for accountability in the case.
“This is the first step towards achieving justice for Tyre and his family,” attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci said in a statement. “In the coming days, we will review the video footage from this violent attack…providing the family and community more clarity into what led to the loss of this young man, father, and son."
The U.S Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that federal authorities have also opened an inquiry into possible civil rights violations during the arrest.
Nichols' friends and family have offered glimpses into his life over the past week, saying he was quick with a hug and a passionate skateboarder with a hearty appetite.
Click here to read the article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 20, 2023 at 6:34 PM
Memphis Police Department issues media release regarding MPD Internal Investigation and findings, as they relate to the death of Tyre Nichols.
(2/2) pic.twitter.com/19qINxWB3t
— Memphis Police Dept (@MEM_PoliceDept) January 21, 2023
_________________________________________________________________
January 20, 2023 at 12:35 PM
Christopher Blank with WKNO-FM reports "TN Politics: City Awaits Potential Bombshell Video in Fatal Police Confrontation"
The death of Tyre Nichols, 29, after what might have been an otherwise routine traffic stop by Memphis police on Jan. 7, has become a potential powder keg as city and police officials prepare to release video footage from the incident.
Political analyst Otis Sanford says the civic apprehension is palpable as multiple investigations by the FBI, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and an internal investigation by MPD all contribute to speculation that this may be a disturbing case of police brutality.
The crucial next steps by local police and government leaders should show that actions are being taken to hold the participants accountable.
Click here to view the full article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 17, 2023
Sam Cabral with BBC News reports "Tyre Nichols: Memphis police under scrutiny in fatal traffic stop"
Police in Memphis, Tennessee, are under pressure to explain how a traffic stop resulted in deadly "confrontations" with a 29-year-old motorist.
Click here to read the full article.
_________________________________________________________________
January 18, 2023 at 9:01 PM
Katie Riordan with WKNO-FM reports "New Civil Rights Violation Investigation in Tyre Nichols Case - Memphis Mayor Calls Death 'Horribly Tragic'"
As the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation continues its examination of Memphis Police officers' use of force in the arrest of Tyre Nichols, the United States Department of Justice is also opening a civil rights investigation.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee made the announcement Wednesday, a day after the City of Memphis said it intends to release video footage from the night of Jan. 7 when Nichols was pulled over for what police say was reckless driving.
Officers reported two confrontations with Nichols before apprehending him. He was then transported from the scene to a hospital because of what the Memphis Police Department said was shortness of breath. Nichols, a 29-year-old father, died three days later.
Nichols’ stepfather, Rodney Wells, publicly shared a hospital photo of Nichols taken the morning after his arrest. He appears unconscious, hooked to a breathing tube, and has what appears to be a swollen face and blood on his pillow.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and Police Chief CJ Davis said Tuesday that video footage of the incident would be shared publicly after MPD completed its own internal investigation and Nichols’ family had the opportunity to view it.
In an interview with television station Fox 13 Wednesday morning, Strickland said officials intend to meet with the family’s attorney early next week. The mayor called the situation “horribly tragic.”
“I’ve been praying for this family ever since it first began,” he said, adding later that he could “not imagine losing a child like this.”
When asked if he’d seen evidence of excessive force, Strickland said he would reserve announcing conclusions until after the completion of hearings for an unknown number of officers implicated in the arrest, expected by the end of the week.
He said officers were notified of department policy violations on Sunday and Monday and have the opportunity to defend themselves at an administrative hearing before they receive any sort of disciplinary action.
The mayor defended the amount of time it’s taken to release the footage, citing deference to MPD’s administrative and investigative process.
“We will get the truth out there. The truth will get there,” he said in the interview. “We will do our part, hopefully by next week.”
Nichols’ family and friends, who have been pressing for police transparency in the case, remembered him as a passionate skateboarder who had been an upbeat, independent and positive presence throughout his life at a memorial held for him on Tuesday.
_________________________________________________________________
January 17, 2023 at 11:10 PM
Katie Riordan with WKNO-FM reports "Tyre Nichols Remembered as a 'Beautiful Soul;' City Offers Public Release of Video Footage"
While family and friends paid tribute Tuesday to a man who died following a recent confrontation with Memphis police, city officials also announced Tuesday that video footage from the incident will be forthcoming.
Through tears and laughter at an Orange Mound-area funeral home on Tuesday, loved ones honored Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old father of one, who died Jan. 10, three days after he was arrested and hospitalized after a traffic stop.
During a memorial service, they recalled his easy-going, goofy and independent nature and his love of food.
“The way to this man’s heart was through his stomach,” Angelina Paxton, a longtime friend from California, told the more than 50 people who gathered to celebrate Nichols’ life.
She says they met as teenagers through church, and he introduced her to his passion of skateboarding.
“He really was a light,” she said. “There was not a bad bone in that man’s body. He was not violent. He was not crooked…he was a good man.”
Even casual acquaintances cherished their encounters with Nichols. Nate Spates Jr. got to know him through visits to Starbucks in East Memphis.
“We all just ended up probably three, four times a week, just sitting there talking,” Spates said. “He just wanted to enjoy life, enjoy being out in the elements – enjoying conversation.”
Spates says even his wife was moved to comment on Nichols’ kind demeanor after a coffee run, calling him a “beautiful soul.”
According to Memphis Police, Nichols was pulled over for reckless driving on the evening of Jan 7. He fled on foot after a confrontation with officers. MPD said a second confrontation took place as he was apprehended. Nichols was hospitalized after complaining of a shortness of breath, the department said. He died three days later.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is currently reviewing the officers’ use of force.
City officials announced Tuesday that video footage from the night will be made public after MPD completes its own internal investigation, which is expected to finish at the end of the week. Family members must also have the opportunity to privately view it before the footage is shared, Mayor Jim Strickland and Police Chief CJ Davis said in a joint statement.
“We understand and agree that transparency around the events surrounding the death of Mr. Tyre Nichols is critically important, especially the release of the video footage,” the statement reads.
City officials are expected to meet with the family’s attorney next week. The Police Department is also taking administrative action against an unknown number of officers as part of its internal investigation.
_________________________________________________________________
January 16, 2023 at 10:09 PM
Katie Riordan with WKNO-FM reports "Family, Activists Seek Answers in Traffic Stop Death"
Local activists gathered around the grieving family of Tyre Nichols at the National Civil Rights Museum in Downtown Memphis on Monday, chanting for justice as crowds of museum visitors marked Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Nichols died last Tuesday, three days after he was hospitalized following his arrest during a traffic stop. No details have been released about the cause of death.
The Memphis Police Department said officers stopped Nichols for reckless driving and a confrontation took place as officers approached on the night of Jan. 7. Nichols allegedly fled and a second confrontation ended with his apprehension. According to MPD, he was then transported to a hospital in critical condition after complaining of a shortness of breath.
His stepfather, Rodney Wells, said the next morning he visited Nichols in the hospital, finding him unconscious and hooked to a breathing machine. A photo he took appears to show Nichols with a swollen face, blood on his pillow and what Wells describes as knots on his head.
His family is asking for the release of police body camera footage from the incident.
“The only thing that has meaning right at this point is getting justice for my son,” Wells said. “Anything else I could care less about.”
Nichols leaves behind several siblings and a four-year-old son in Sacramento, California.
“Our lives will never be the same again,” his sister Keyana Dixon said as she cried at the demonstration.
A friend of Nichols holds a photo of the 29-year-old.
Wells said he last saw his stepson alive the afternoon of the traffic stop. The two both worked at FedEx, where Nichols helped assemble boxes. Wells said he was universally beloved.
“He was real infectious. When he comes through the door, he wants to give you a hug. So If you walk past him, and you didn’t give him a hug, he going to call you back to get his hug,” he said. “Tyre was the type of person that likes to skateboard. He likes to take pictures. He’s not a criminal.”
A police use of force investigation is underway by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The agency declined to provide a possible timeline for completion.
MPD announced Sunday that its own internal investigation has prompted “administrative action” to be taken against an undisclosed number of officers. The departmentindicated that a disciplinary and investigative process is expected to be completed later this week.
Wells says that is insufficient and is calling for possible criminal charges against the officers involved.
“We need action,” he said.
The family has retained legal representation from the law office of nationally-known civilrights attorney Ben Crump.
A memorial for Nichols will be held Tuesday afternoon.
_________________________________________________________________
January 15, 2023 at 11:37 PM
WKNO-FM reports "MPD to Take Administrative Action Against Officers in Case of Man Who Died After Arrest"
The head of the Memphis Police Department said on Sunday that “administrative action” willbe taken against officers involved in a use of force investigation after a 29-year-old man was hospitalized and died following a traffic stop last Saturday.
MPD initially said officers pulled Tyre Nichols over for reckless driving. A “confrontation” ensued with Nichols fleeing the scene, according to a statement, and another “confrontation” followed as police attempted to arrest him. After Nichols complained of a shortness of breath, an ambulance transported him in critical condition to a hospital, MPD said.
He died three days later, on Jan. 10. No details have been released about the cause of death or how many officers were at the scene. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is conducting an investigation at the request of the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office.
In Police Chief CJ Davis’s announcement on Sunday, she did not detail what specific action is being taken against the officers as a result of MPD’s own internal investigation.
“After reviewing various sources of information involving this incident, I have found that it is necessary to take immediate and appropriate action,” Davis said, noting that the implicated officers have been notified – a requirement before a city employee can be disciplined or terminated.
“MPD is working quickly and appropriately to go through the administrative disciplinary and investigative process, which is expected to be completed later this week,” the press release reads.
Family and friends of Nichols, who has been described on social media as a cherished and positive friend and a skateboard enthusiast, demonstrated outside a police precinct in southeast Memphis on Saturday, demanding transparency and to see body camera footage from the incident.
Mayor Jim Strickland said in the joint statement with Davis that completing an investigation is necessary “to ensure that swift justice is served.”
“We want citizens to know that we are prepared to take immediate and appropriate actions based on what the findings determine,” Strickland said.
Nichols’ loved ones told reporters at Saturday’s demonstration that they’re seeking answers. Some carried a photo of the young man showing him hospitalized and connected to a breathing tube with what appears to be a swollen face.
“No one should die from a traffic stop,” Rodney Wells, Nichols' stepfather, toldlocal TV station Fox 13.
