Memphis Police Department (MPD) has released horrific body-cam footage of the deadly traffic stop that led to the death of Trye Nichols.
The videos are hard to watch, and we’re not highlighting them.
Click the link below to view the graphic videos MPD posted on Vimeo.
https://vimeo.com/cityofmemphis
Nichols, 29, was assaulted by the police officers after police claimed he was driving recklessly. But in several media interviews, MPD Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said they had not found any evidence Nichols had committed any traffic infractions warranting the police pulling him over.
Reports indicate that Nichols was on his way home from taking sunset photos on January 7 when police pulled him over, and he was just a few minutes from home. He died three day later, succumbing to the injuries he sustained.
Davis has received praise for her swift action in firing the officers and preparing the American public for the release of the horrific videos. She said the officers, members of the SCORPION Unit, a special unit created to fight violent crime in Memphis, broke all department rules.
Asked to rate the intensity of the police encounter with Nichols, “it was a 10,” Davis said without hesitation, describing the officers as failing to exercise restraint or following de-escalation protocols.
Former officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills, Jr., Emmitt Martin III, and Justin Smith are facing several charges stemming from the brutal assault. A grand jury has indicted them on charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct, and official oppression, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said.
Here’s a short clip of one of the worst parts of the beating.
Memphis Police release graphic video of the deadly beating of Tyre Nichols by 5 black police officers. The officers were swiftly fired and have been charged with 2nd degree murder. @MauriceNdole @Steve1_Mokaya #TyreNichols pic.twitter.com/qX9NbBOrNX
— Hot Seat News (@TheHotSeatNews) January 28, 2023
What the videos reveal.
In the video, Nichols calls out to his mother at least three times while the officers mercilessly beat him while handcuffed and helpless on the ground. One officer kicked him so hard that he lost his balance.
In an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon, Nichols’ stepfather Rodney Wells took notice of the officer’s kick.
“One officer kicked him like he was kicking a football a couple of times,” Wells said.
Another officer is captured in the video wielding what looked like an antenna and menacingly circling Nichols, brandishing the weapon and looking for an opening between the other officers kicking and punching him on the ground before viciously hitting him at least twice.
At one point, an officer propped up a handcuffed Nichols, holding him up to allow another officer to land several knockout blows similar to those administered in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) tag team fight.
Nichols’ encounter with the officers started when one police officer was caught on a body cam yanking violently from his car and throwing him to the ground. A melee ensued, with the officers piling on him, beating, tasering, and using pepper spray to subdue him.
The scene was so chaotic that one officer was pepper sprayed and spent time washing off pepper from his face. Amid the confusion, Nichols somehow escaped and ran for his life with one officer shooting a taser behind his back. It’s unclear whether the taser connected, but Nichols appears to be ditching his top while running as the taser shoots him.
After Nichols bolted, one officer can be heard saying, “I hope they stomp his ass
Police later caught up with him and administered a cruel and sadistic beating. The officers constantly ordered Nichols to give them his hands and stop resisting, there was no evidence he fought them, and he only cried from the pain and pleaded with the officers to stop assaulting him. It appears the officers were making statements that would exonerate them in case there was a prosecution.
President Joe Biden sent a message of condolences to Nichols’ family.
“My heart goes out to Tyre Nichols’ family and to Americans in Memphis and across the country who are grieving this tremendously painful loss. There are no words to describe the heartbreak and grief of losing a beloved child and young father,” Biden said in a Tweet.
A New Policing Blueprint
One of the unintended outcomes of the Nichols brutal attack was the swift reaction by the MPD, where the five police officers involved in the attack were promptly fired and slapped with serious charges, including murder in the 2nd degree.
Civil Rights attorney Benjamin Crump who has represented numerous African American victims of police brutality, took notice of the swift justice.
“This is not the first time we’ve seen police officers committing crimes and engaging in excessive brutal force against unarmed Black people in America, but yet we have NEVER seen swift justice like this,” Crump said while speaking at a press conference attended by Nichols’ parents.
Crump said the speed taken by MPD is the new blueprint for handling police brutality cases and lamented that it’s curious that such action was taken when the officers involved are black.
“The precedent has been set in Memphis (TN) for SWIFT accountability. Moving forward, every officer in America accused of wrongdoing should be held to this same standard! Victims and families shouldn’t have to wait years upon years to see justice!” Crump Tweeted.
He said cases of police brutality involving a white police officer often took months to resolve, with many unnecessary hurdles placed to protect the officers.
Some civil rights activists said whenever white police officers beat African Americans, police departments usually make moves to protect their identities and rarely fire them, opting instead to send them on administrative leave.
The activists also noted that investigations into the incidents took months, and rarely do the police departments release videos, as was the Nichols’ case where all the officers involved were black.
Crump said thanks to MPD, we have now seen it possible for the police to move faster to resolve such cases.
The precedent has been set in Memphis (TN) for SWIFT accountability. Moving forward, every officer in America accused of wrongdoing should be held to this same standard! Victims and families shouldn’t have to wait years upon years to see justice! #EqualJusticeForAll pic.twitter.com/zEyDY5qDSa
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) January 27, 2023
Crump gave four bullet points to end police brutality in the US.
“How to solve the problem of bad policing: 1. Work with the community 2. Be transparent 3. Accept accountability 4. Build trust Each and every one of our children have a right to live on this Earth – to breathe another breath. Equal justice for all!” Crump tweeted.
The No Help Paramedics
After about 4.08 minutes of a brutal beatdown, the officers, breathing heavily, left Nichols’s limp body lying handcuffed on the ground laying on his side without providing him first aid. After about a minute, the officers dragged Nichols and rested him seated at the side of one police car.
Firefighters arrived approximately 4 minutes after the beating stopped, but they did not appear to give him first aid. It took almost 20 minutes before the paramedics brought a stretcher. They did not load Nichols on it for at least another 2 minutes, and an ambulance arrived in the video frame, blocking the camera view of Nichols.
By the time the video ended, almost 25 minutes after the beating had stopped, the ambulance had not transported Nichols to the hospital.
Nichols died 3 days later from injuries sustained from the beatings. It’s unclear whether swift action by the paramedics would have saved his life, but their failure to provide him with first aid and rush him to the hospital appears to be a failure.
A Mother’s Pain.
At a press conference before the video’s public release, Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, described her son as a person with a beautiful soul.
“He just had a beautiful soul, and he touched a lot of people,” Wells said”
Described as mama’s boy, Wells said her son had a tattoo of her name on his arm that made her proud.
Wells said the officers who killed his son have brought shame to the black community and disgraced their families.
She got emotional recounting the incident where her son called her name and said knowing that her son called on her for help, but she wasn’t there for him brought her unbearable pain.
Despite her pain, she has called on the public to protest peacefully in honor of her son because he never stood for violence.
Earlier in the day, before she knew the police beat her son, Wells said she felt sharp pains in her stomach, which she has now concluded was a pain her son conducted to her during his ordeal at the hand of the rogue officers.
Speaking to CNN’s Don Lemon, Wells said she would miss her son terribly.
“I always joked because he came in the house, he’ll come in and say, ‘Hello, parents.’ I’ll never hear that again. I’ll never cook for my son again,” Wells said. “I’ll never get a hug from my son again. I won’t get anything from my son again just because some officers decided they wanted to do harm to my son.”
Wells joins a growing list of African American mothers who have lost their children at the hands of the police.
“No mother should have to go through this,” she said.
A passionate skateboarder and photographer
Nichols was a young man chasing his passions.
He loved to skateboard, a passion he’d had since he was six years old, and his favorite activity was to head to the local park to skate.
His stepfather said he had recently joked that he was too old to skateboard, but Nichols brushed him off because skateboarding was his passion.
He also had a passion for photography and sunsets, which he posted on his Twitter and website. His mother said each night, Nichols would go to nearby Shelby Farms Park, on the eastern outskirts of Memphis, to watch the sunset and take pictures.
Nichols left a message about his passion for photography on his website’s about page.
“Hey, guys,
My name is Tyre D. Nichols. I am an aspiring photographer. Well, I mostly do this stuff for fun, but I enjoy it very much. Photography helps me look at the world in a more creative way.
It expresses me in ways I cannot write down for people. I take different types of photography, anywhere from action sports to rural photos, to bodies of water, and my favorite, landscape photography.
My vision is to bring my viewers deep into what I am seeing through my eye and out through my lens. People have a story to tell; why not capture it instead of doing the “norm” and writing it down or speaking it?
I hope to one day let people see what I see and to hopefully admire my work based on the quality and ideals of my work. So on that note, enjoy my page and let me know what you think.
Your friend,
Tyre D. Nichols
Nichols leaves behind a 4-year-old son.