The allegations against Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III, and Justin Smith include 2nd-degree murder.
Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who died after being severely assaulted during a traffic stop last month, was charged with multiple crimes, including second-degree murder. Five former Memphis police officers were accused of his death. They entered not-guilty pleas on Friday.
The cops, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III, and Justin Smith, each waived the official reading of their indictments and entered pleas on their behalf in their first court appearance following their arrest.
The cops, who were a part of the SCORPION Unit crime-fighting team, were charged with second-degree murder as well as aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, and official misconduct and official oppression. They were arrested on Jan. 26 and are out on bond.
The chaotic incident on January 7 was captured on 67 minutes of surveillance and police body camera video, which Memphis authorities have now made public. Five officers chased Nichols, punched him, doused him in pepper spray, and continued to verbally and physically abuse him as he became limper and limper.
Three days later, Nichols—a FedEx driver, ardent skateboarder, and father of a 4-year-old son—passed away in a hospital.
In the roughly 13 minutes before they radioed in that Nichols was in custody, cops shouted at least 71 orders that were “confusing, inconsistent, and sometimes even impossible to comply,” according to a New York Times analysis of the video.
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Following an internal review of Nichols’s arrest, the five policemen were discharged on January 20.
Preston Hemphill, another officer involved in the initial traffic stop, has been fired. Three additional officers have been placed on administrative leave, including two Shelby County sheriff’s deputies whose body cameras were left off.
Check the below tweet about 5 Former Memphis Police Officers Accused Of Killing Tyre Nichols who Have Entered A Not-Guilty Plead:
EURWeb 5 Former Memphis Police Officers Charged in Tyre Nichols’ Death Plead NOT Guilty | WATCH https://t.co/lVpEavEgVX
— theloop411.com (@theloop411) February 18, 2023
Also fired are three Memphis Fire Department employees who were on-site at the time of the arrest.
The passing of Nichols was the most recent high-profile incident that sparked demonstrations around the country and reignited the national dialogue about racial injustice and police violence.