Death of Tyre Nichols: 5 Memphis officers charged with murder

Memphis, Tennessee. – On Thursday, five fired Memphis police officers were charged with murder and other crimes related to the murder of Tyre Nichols, a black motorist who died three days later after colliding with police during a traffic stop.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told a press conference that while each of the officers played different roles in the murder, “they are all responsible.”

The officers, who are all black, face charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, misconduct and official harassment.

The video of the January 7 shutdown will be made public on Friday night, Mulroy said. The Nichols family and their lawyers say the footage shows officers brutally beating the 29-year-old father and a FedEx employee for three minutes.

CONNECTED: Tyre Nichols: What do we know about his death and the Memphis officers charged with murder

Nichols’ stepfather, Rodney Wells, told The Associated Press by telephone that he and his wife Rowan Wells, Nichols’ mother, discussed the second-degree murder charges and “agree with it.” They demanded a charge of first-degree murder.

“There are other allegations, so I agree with that,” he said.

Earlier this week, Wells called for any protests that occur after the video’s release to remain peaceful. He also said he was “delighted” that the authorities had responded quickly to the case.

David Rausch, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, said during a press conference that he had seen the video and found it “absolutely appalling.”

“Let me be clear: what happened here does not at all reflect proper police work. It was wrong. It was criminal,” Rausch said.

Court records showed that all five former officers – Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith – were in custody.

The records do not list attorneys for Smith, Bean, or Haley. Martin’s lawyer, William Massey, confirmed that his client had turned himself in. He and Mills’ attorney, Blake Ballin, said their clients pleaded not guilty.

“No one wanted Tyre Nichols to die that night,” Massey said.

Both lawyers said they did not see the video.

“We are in the dark about a lot of things, as is the general public,” Ballin said.

Second-degree murder is punishable by 15 to 60 years in prison under Tennessee law.

Lawyers for the Nichols family, Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, issued a statement saying the allegations are “hopeful as we continue to seek justice for Tire.”

“This young man lost his life in a particularly horrendous manner, indicating an urgent need for change and reform to stop the violence during low-risk procedures, as in this case the traffic stop,” they wrote.

Rev. Al Sharpton, who founded and leads the National Action Network and will deliver the eulogy at Nichols’ memorial service next week, called the accusations “a necessary step in getting justice” for Nichols, who was an avid skateboarder and had a 4-year-old son.

“There is no point in putting a body camera on a police officer if you are not going to prosecute him when the footage shows him mercilessly beating a man to death,” Sharpton said. “Layoffs are not enough. Charges and arrests are not sentences. As we have done in the past… we will support this family until justice is done.”

At the White House, President Joe Biden said the Nichols family and the City of Memphis deserved a “fast, full and transparent investigation.”

“Public trust is the foundation of public safety, and there are still too many places in America today where bonds of trust are frayed or broken,” Biden said in a statement.

The Memphis police chief called the officers’ actions that night “disgusting, reckless and inhuman”.

“This is not just a professional mistake. It’s a lack of basic humanity towards another person,” Memphis Police Director Serelyn “CJ” Davis said in a video message posted late Wednesday on social media.

Davis said five officers who were found “directly responsible for the physical abuse of Mr. Nichols” were fired last week, but other officers are still under investigation for violating department policy. In addition, she said that a “complete and independent review” of the department’s specialized units would be carried out, without giving details.

Two firefighters were also suspended in connection with Nichols’ arrest.

CONNECTED: Justice Department investigates arrest and death of Memphis man

As state and federal investigations continue, Davis promised the police department “full and comprehensive cooperation” to determine what contributed to Nichols’ January 10 death.

Mulroy told The Associated Press on Tuesday that local and state investigators wanted to conduct as many interviews as possible before releasing the video. The timeline irritated some activists, who expected the video to be released after Nichols’ family and his lawyers reviewed it on Monday.

Crump said the video showed Nichols shocked, pepper sprayed and restrained when he was pulled over at a bus stop outside his home. He was returning home from a suburban park where he photographed the sunset.

Police said Nichols was pulled over for reckless driving and fled the scene at some point.

The legal team compared the beating to the infamous 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King.

Relatives blamed the police for Nichols’ heart attack and kidney failure. Authorities only said that Nichols required emergency medical attention.

When the video footage of the arrest was made public, Davis said she was expecting reactions from people in the community, but urged them to do so peacefully.

“None of this is a calling card for inciting violence or destruction in our community or against our citizens,” she said.

One of the officers, Hayley, had previously been charged with using excessive force. He was named a defendant in a federal civil rights lawsuit in 2016 while working at the Shelby County Correctional Facility.

The plaintiff, Cordarrius Sledge, said he was incarcerated in 2015 when Haley and another corrections officer accused him of flushing contraband. According to the complaint, two officers “beat me in the face with their fists.”

Then a third officer slammed his head into the ground, Sledge said. He lost consciousness and woke up in the institution’s medical center.

The claims were ultimately dismissed after a judge ruled that Sledge did not file a complaint against the officers within 30 days of the incident.