Five former Memphis police officers were charged with murder in the beating death of Tyre Nichols. The 29-year-old was pulled over in a traffic stop on January 10, resulting in Nichols being hospitalized with severe injuries that led to his death three days later.
Video footage of the incident was released to Nichols' family by the Memphis Police Department. The family says that Tyre was beaten for 3 minutes by the officers, which they compared to the 1991 Rodney King police beating in Los Angeles.
The officers involved in the incident were revealed to be Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith. The officers were fired last Friday for violation of policy, and they were indicted by a grand jury on Thursday (January 26) and taken into custody.
Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis released a statement on Wednesday about the incident, "Aside from being your chief of police, I am a citizen of this community, we share; I am a mother, I am a caring human being who wants the best for all of us; this is not just a professional failing. This is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual. This incident was heinous, reckless, and inhumane; and in the vein of transparency when the video is released in the coming days, you will see this for yourselves."
Davis added that other officers are also being investigated. More details to come.
Source: WREG
