Nichols, 29, died three days after Memphis police pulled him over and beat him. The video of the encounter will be released after 6 pm. Friday local time.
With manslaughter in the death of Tyree Nichols. Whose beating was captured on video after a traffic stop. That “sickened” a top law enforcement officer in Tennessee.
Officers involved — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III. Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith. Were later fired, Davis said, after they violated department policy during the Jan. 7 stop. That led to Nichols’ death.
Prosecutors announced that five former officials have been charged. With second-degree murder, two counts of official misconduct. Two counts of aggravated kidnapping, one count of official oppression. And one count of aggravated assault. “All their actions resulted in death.” Nichols’ tire, and they are all responsible.” Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told reporters.
Second-degree murder, the most serious charge, is “a knowing murder,” Mulroy said.
Haley, Martin and Bean remained in custody Thursday night, jail records show. But as of Friday morning, jail records showed only Haley remained behind bars.The video of the encounter will be released after 6 pm. local time on Friday, officials said. Memphis Police Chief Cerelin “CJ.” Davis said Thursday that he expected citizens to be outraged. By the “disgusting, callous and inhumane” behavior captured on video. He said he expected people to protest and urged them to remain peaceful.
It was not clear whether the department was taking precautionary measures ahead of possible protests. A spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
In anticipation of the release of the video, Memphis-Shelby County Schools announced Friday. It was canceling after-school activities while Southwest Tennessee Community College. Said it would move to virtual classes Friday.
Law enforcement officials in other cities said. They were preparing for protests or monitoring the events. In Washington, D.C., the police department said in a statement. That it had “fully activated” all sworn personnel. And pledged to take “swift law enforcement action if anyone breaks the law.”
In Minneapolis, a department spokeswoman said. Its community safety office “will maintain its mission to protect. This community while respecting the constitutional. Rights of all citizens,” while in San Francisco, authorities said.
In Atlanta, the police department said it was “ready to support peaceful protests.” Officers were “expected to conduct themselves in a compassionate, competent. And constitutional manner,” the department said in a statement. “These officers have failed Tyre, their community and their profession.”
‘It could have been me’
At a candlelight vigil Thursday night attended by more. Than 300 people in Memphis’ Tobey Park, Nichols’ mother. Ro Von Wells, called the video “horrific” and echoed the police chief. Saying: “I want every one of you to protest peacefully. I don’t want us to destroy our cities. Burn, tear up the roads, because it was not for my son.”
“Skateboarders have to support each other, no matter what,” said Ron Marion, 29. “We’re the same age. It could have been me.”
Once finished, Wells, wearing a gray coat and matching skull cap. Walked about 100 feet across the park on a skateboard. There, people twist their boards in the air, jump over the concrete, and some fall in front of it. He smiled and left after a while.
The police chief said the investigation found no evidence of reckless driving
Davis told CNN This Morning early Friday. And review of available camera footage found “no evidence.”
“We could not prove reckless driving. That’s why he was supposedly stopped in the first place,” he continued.
“Nobody out there that night wanted Tyre Nichols dead,” Massey told reporters. “No one, no one. This is shocking for the officer.
Nichols’ family welcomed the accused.
Ben Crump and the family’s lawyer, Antonio Romanucci, said in a statement that the charges. Against the officers “give us hope as we continue to push for justice for Tyre.” “This young man lost his life in a particularly despicable manner. That points to the desperate need for change and reform to ensure. That this violence ceases to occur during low-threat procedures. Such as in this case, a traffic stop.”
“This tragedy meets the absolute definition of a needless and unnecessary death.”
Preliminary results of an autopsy conducted by Nichols’ family. The Shelby County Medical Examiner’s. Office has not released an official cause of death.
Some details have been released
Nichols, 29, died Jan. 10, the day of the confrontation that brought him to the hospital.
Neighborhood of Memphis on a reckless driving charge.
“There was another altercation at a nearby location.
Mulroy declined to go into further detail about the fatal collision. A photo provided by his stepfather shows. Nichols hospitalized with blood on his face and swollen eyes.
Nichols’ family and their attorneys, Crump & Romanucci, viewed the body camera video.
Romanucci described it as an “unadulterated, uninterrupted, unrelenting beating.” For three minutes, saying the officers treated Nichols “like a human piñata.
Crump compared the video to “The Rodney King Video”. Referring to the 1991 bystander video of Los Angeles police officers beating a black man.
Representatives for the Memphis Police Association, which represents rank-and-file officers.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson said he hopes that when the video becomes public. It will force lawmakers to take decisive action to reform the police.
“Tell us what you’re going to do to honor Tyree Nichols,” Johnson said in a statement Thursday. “Tell us what you are going to do to show his family, his beloved son and this entire nation that his life was not in vain. We can name all the victims of police violence, but we cannot name one. You have passed a single law to deal with it. .”
“There’s no point in putting a cop on a body camera if you’re not going to hold them accountable. When the footage shows them relentlessly beating someone to death,” Sharpton said.
“Arson is not enough. Accusations and arrests are not convictions. As we have done in the past — with George Floyd, Ahmoud Arbery. And others — we will stand by this family until justice is served. A conviction sends a message to the nation that police. After such heinous acts They cannot hide behind their badges.”
Dion J. Hampton reports from Memphis, David Kay Lee. and Juliette Arcodia from New York and Tim Stelloh from California.