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Tire Nichols murder: Memphis braces as five ex-officers are charged with murder for father of child who was beaten like ‘a human pinata’ | American News

yrtnews2023-01-27
16 3 minutes read
Tire Nichols murder: Memphis braces as five ex-officers are charged with murder for father of child who was beaten like 'a human pinata' | American News


A grand jury has indicted five former police officers with murder and other charges related to Tire Nichols’ death.

The American President Joe Biden called for any protests to be peaceful after Thursday’s charges.

Nichols, 29, died in hospital three days after a confrontation during a roadside check in the American city of Memphis, TennesseeJanuary 7.

The father of one had been arrested after being pulled over for reckless driving, police said, before being beaten by officers for three minutes.

Five black officers involved in the arrest were later fired after a police investigation found they had used excessive force or failed to intervene to help.

Officials are expected to release body camera footage of the incident on Friday evening.

Picture:
A photo of Tire Nichols at his memorial service in Memphis. Photo: AP

“We are here today because of a tragedy that deeply hurts a family but also hurts all of us,” District Attorney Steve Mulroy said at a press conference.

He added that the five officers have been charged with second degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping and official misconduct.

The Memphis Police Department identified them as Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr and Justin Smith, all black and between the ages of 24 and 32.

Each officer had served in the department for approximately two and a half to five years and was discharged from the force last Saturday.

Meanwhile, two Memphis Fire Department employees who participated in the response have also been relieved of their duties during an investigation, a department spokesperson said earlier this week.

Tire Nichols was a father of one child. Photo: Ben Crump Law
Picture:
Tire Nichols was a father of one child. Photo: Ben Crump Law

President Biden said in a statement: “Outrage is understandable, but violence is never acceptable.

“Tire’s death is a painful reminder that we must do more to ensure our criminal justice system delivers on the promise of fair and impartial justice, equal treatment and dignity for all.”

Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said Wednesday that other officers remain under investigation for police offenses.

In a video shared on YouTube, she asked for calm when body camera footage is made public.

“I expect you to feel what the Nichols family feels. I expect you to feel outrage at the disregard for basic human rights,” she said.

“I expect our fellow citizens to exercise their First Amendment right to protest, to demand action and results, but we need to make sure our community is safe in this process.”

Several recent incidents of police brutality against black people in the United States have sparked outrage and calls for police reforms.

Second degree murder will go a long way towards meeting public expectations

America has been here before. A black man dead at the hands of the police, brutality filmed.

Rodney King and George Floyd are just two names that define a deadly dysfunction in the institution that exists to protect and serve.

Now add Tire Nichols – 29, father and family man who worked at FedEx and loved to skateboard. “Nobody’s perfect,” her mother RowVaugn said. “But he was damn close.”

We’re told the events leading up to his death are contained in an hour-long, multi-angle video of what was followed as a savage assault.

A lawyer for the Nichols family said he was beaten “like a human pinata”. The Friday night release of the footage is shrouded in a sense of dread.

Experience shows that this is shocking video content that could spark violent street protests, and in Memphis they are aware of the danger. This explains why the preparation for the release of the images was choreographed around the charges against the police officers involved.

In a place where the public demands accountability, bringing second-degree murder charges will go a long way toward meeting expectations. Second degree murder accuses the officers of knowingly killing Mr Nichols.

Does it make a difference that the five men in uniform are black? May be. Time will tell if, and how, this plays into the wider audience response.

Much of the backlash so far has focused on the power available to the police and the tendency to abuse it with deadly consequences. In video form, the proof will soon be revealed – and Memphis is preparing.

The Nichols family watched the police footage on Monday with their attorney, Ben Crump, who compared the beating to the 1991 Los Angeles police assault on Rodney King which was captured on video and sparked protests and police reforms.

“He was helpless the whole time. He was a human pinata for these police officers,” Antonio Romanucci, Mr. Crump’s co-lawyer, told reporters.

Mr Crump said Nichols’ last words heard on the video were of him calling his mother three times.

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yrtnews2023-01-27
16 3 minutes read
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