Tyre Nichols:Memphis reckons with police killing by black officers

Tyre Nichols, the man who died last month after an alleged beating by five black police officers, was “damn near perfect,” his mother RowVaughn Wells said at a press conference.

The 29-year-old Nichols had been living in Memphis, Tennessee, with his parents since the pandemic, according to his mother. Although he lived in Memphis at the time of his death, Nichols had previously lived in California. He had just started a job at FedEx working alongside his stepfather, Rodney Wells.

“He was very, very beloved at my job. Everybody’s calling me with blessings, prayers [and] showing sympathy for what happened,” Rodney Wells said.”He only worked at FedEx for maybe nine months, but you should see the outpour of love and support,” RowVaughn Wells said.

His mother recalled the morning three days before her son’s death. She said she had been preparing chicken for dinner that afternoon and planned to cook it his favorite way. At a press conference Friday, she said that Nichols was coming from Shelby Farms, a local park where he liked to go and take pictures of the sunset, on the day of his ultimately fatal encounter. 

Officers pulled over Nichols that Friday due to “reckless driving,” according to Memphis police reports, and he attempted to flee from the officers before being eventually arrested. He was hospitalized in critical condition after complaining of shortness of breath during the arrest. Three days later — Jan. 10 — Nichols died.

According to a preliminary independent autopsy commissioned by the family, Nichols suffered “extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating.” The 6 foot, 3 inches, man also had Crohn’s disease and weighed just 145 pounds, his family and attorneys said.

Two of the five former Memphis police officers arrested in the killing of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols had been on the job for a couple of years, and the others no more than six years. And some of the officers had been part of a new anti-violence unit called Scorpion, which stands for Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighbourhoods, prosecutors confirmed. 

But now it is being abolished after its officers were seen beating Mr Nichols, 29, in the videos from 7 January.

In a statement, the department said “it is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate” the unit.

“While the heinous actions of a few cast a cloud of dishonor on the title Scorpion, it is imperative that we, the Memphis Police Department, take proactive steps in the healing process for all impacted,” it added.

Mr. Nichols’ family welcomed the decision in a statement from their lawyers, calling it “both appropriate and proportional to the tragic death of Tyre Nichols, and also a decent and just decision for all citizens of Memphis”.
Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith were fired on Jan. 20 after an administrative investigation found they had violated department policy on the use of force. They were 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.