Tire Nichols Killed: Memphis Backs Five Ex-Officers Charged with Murder of Father Beaten as ‘Human Piñata’ | US News

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

America president joe biden Calls for any peaceful protests following Thursday’s allegations.

Nichols, 29, died in hospital three days later Confrontation during traffic stop in Memphis, USA, TennesseeJanuary 7th.

The father of one of the men was arrested after being pulled over for reckless driving and then allegedly beaten by officers for three minutes, police said.

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

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

Photo of Tire Nichols at his memorial service in Memphis.Photo: Associated Press
picture:
Photo of Tire Nichols at his memorial service in Memphis.Photo: Associated Press

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

The five officers were charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping and officer misconduct, he added.

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 served in the department for about two and a half to five years and was fired last Saturday.

Meanwhile, two Memphis Fire Department employees involved in the response have also been relieved of duty while the investigation is underway, a department spokesman said earlier this week.

Tire Nichols is the father of one. Image: Ben Crump Law
picture:
Tire Nichols is the father of one. Image: Ben Crump Law

“Anger is understandable, but violence is absolutely unacceptable,” President Biden said in a statement.

“Till’s death is a painful reminder that we must do more to ensure our criminal justice system lives up to our commitment to fair and impartial justice, equal treatment and the dignity of all people.”

Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said Wednesday that other officers are still under investigation for police violations.

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

“I hope you feel what the Nichols family felt. I hope you are outraged by the disregard for basic human rights,” she said.

“I want our citizens to exercise their First Amendment right to protest, to demand action and outcomes, but we need to make sure our communities are safe in the process.”

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

Second-degree murder will largely meet public expectations

America has been here before. A black man died at the hands of the police, and the brutality was caught on camera.

Rodney King and George Floyd are just two names that define lethal dysfunction in institutions that exist to protect and serve.

Now add Tire Nichols – 29, father and family man who worked for FedEx and loves to skateboard. “Nobody’s perfect,” said his mother, RowVaughn. “But he’s fucking around.”

We’re told the events leading up to his death are contained in an hour-long video that captures a savage attack from multiple angles.

A lawyer for the Nichols family said he was beaten “like a human piñata”. A sense of dread hangs over the tape released Friday night.

Experience has shown that such shocking video content can easily lead to violent street protests, and in Memphis, they are aware of the danger. It explains why preparations for the release of the footage were carefully crafted around allegations against the officers involved.

Where the public demands accountability, charges of second-degree murder will fall far short of expectations. Second-degree murder charges police with the willful killing of Mr Nichols.

Is it any different that these five guys in uniform are black? Maybe. Time will tell if and how this elicits a broader public reaction.

Much of the reaction so far has focused on the power police have and their propensity to abuse it with deadly consequences. In video form, the evidence of it will soon be revealed — and Memphis is ready.

The Nichols family watched the police footage Monday with their attorney, Ben Crump, who compared the beating to the 1991 attack on Rodney King by Los Angeles police, which was recorded And sparked protests and police reform.

“He was defenseless the entire time. To those police officers, he was a human piñata,” Mr. Crump’s co-counsel, Antonio Romanucci, told reporters.

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

Source link