Saturday, February 18, 2023
Five former police officers accused of fatally beating 29-year-old Tyre Nichols last month in Memphis, Tennessee, US, all pleaded not guilty today.
Demetrius Haley, Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin III, and Desmond Mills, Jr., all free on bail, are each charged with a count of second-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, official misconduct, and official oppression.
Shelby County Criminal Court Judge James Jones scheduled the next hearing for May 1.
“We understand that there may be some high emotions in this case,” said Jones, “but we ask that you continue to be patient with us.”
Nichols and all five officers are African Americans.
Officers stopped Nichols as he was returning home from work on January 7, claiming he was driving recklessly. The footage depicts Haley pulling Nichols out of Nichols’ car before the officers shout orders at him. Nichols attempts to speak with them, then flees. Smith, Bean, and Mills, Jr. capture and hold him while Haley kicks him; Mills, Jr. pepper sprays Nichols and clubs him with a baton.
One officer later alleged Nichols tried to take his gun amid the scuffle.
Police documents state Haley used his mobile phone to take pictures of the handcuffed, “obviously injured” Nichols, texting one to five people. An ambulance took Nichols, in critical condition, to St. Francis Hospital; he died on January 10.
Shortly after the incident, the five officers were dismissed from the force and indicted. Their crime unit, SCORPION, was disbanded.
Two other police officers were relieved of duty and seven more are under investigation. The Memphis Fire Department terminated three emergency medical technicians for not treating Nichols’ injuries. The county sheriff suspended two deputies present at the beating.
“If you were an officer or first responder and you sat there and watched this young man die and you did nothing to help resuscitate him, you did nothing to give him aid, you’re just as culpable as the people who beat him down and killed him,” said Van Turner, President of the Memphis Branch of the NAACP.
Nichols’ family, their attorneys, and activists called for police reform in response to his death.