Five former police officers in Memphis, Tennessee have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to the death of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old black man who died three days after his arrest on January 7th for alleged reckless driving. The officers, who are also black, face additional charges of aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct, and official oppression.
According to the family of Mr. Nichols, an autopsy indicates that he was severely beaten. In response to the charges, US President Joe Biden has called for "peaceful protest" as authorities prepare to release footage of the incident on Friday evening local time. The city's police chief, Cerelyn Davis, has also urged people to remain calm once the footage is made public.
"This is not just a professional failing," said Davis, who is the first black woman to serve as the city's police chief. "This is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual." The five officers, all of whom joined the Memphis Police Department in the last six years, were fired last week after an investigation found them to be "directly responsible for the physical abuse of Mr Nichols."
Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr, Emmitt Martin III, and Justin Smith are all currently in custody, according to jail records. In a news conference on Thursday, lawyers for two of the men said that their clients plan to fight the charges. Blake Ballin, an attorney for Mr. Mills, said, "Knowing Mr. Mills and the kind of person he is, I cannot imagine he has anything but feelings of grief for the [Nichols] family." A lawyer for Mr. Martin said that the death was "shocking to officers."
"No-one out there that night intended for Tyre Nichols to die," said the attorney, William Massey. The Nichols family and their legal team privately reviewed the video footage of the arrest earlier this week. "He was a human piñata," lawyer Antonio Romanucci said of its contents. "It was an unadulterated, unabashed, non-stop beating of this young boy for three minutes." On Wednesday, the family's lawyers said that a post-mortem examination indicated that he had been severely beaten.
"My son was a beautiful soul," said Mr. Nichols' mother, Rowvaughn Wells. "Nobody is perfect, but he was damn near." She called her son's death a "murder." According to the lawyer for the family, Mr. Nichols was stopped by police on his way home after taking photos of a sunset at a local park. The lawyer said that after reviewing the footage, it shows Mr. Nichols being pepper-sprayed, tasered, restrained, and kicked.
City officials said that police officers pulled him over for reckless driving and two "confrontations" occurred. According to authorities, the first happened as officers approached the vehicle and he attempted to flee on foot. They said the second confrontation happened when officers tried to arrest him. Mr. Nichols later complained of shortness of breath and was taken to the hospital, where he was listed in a critical condition. Officials said Mr. Nichols "succumbed to his injuries" on January 10th, but provided no further detail. An official cause of death has not yet been disclosed.
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