Memphis officials released 21 additional hours of footage from the night the police beat 29-year-old Tyre Nichols. The additional footage was released on Jan. 30 and includes body-camera footage as well as audio and surveillance video from the fatal beating.
Nichols died on Jan. 10, 2023, three days after he was severely beaten and shocked by Tasers wielded by five members of the Memphis Police Department on Jan. 7, 2023. Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills and Justin Smith beat, tasered and pepper-sprayed the FedEx worker after allegedly pulling him over for reckless driving. The men were part of the now-disbanded MPD SCORPION unit. The New York Times reports the police found no evidence of Nichols speeding or driving recklessly.
Initial footage released of the beating showed Nichols crying for his mother as he was mercilessly beaten by the five men and complying with their commands. At one point, Nichols ran for his life but was chased down by the officers.
Forty-four recordings were released in the latest footage, and the officers tried to excuse their actions while blaming the 29-year-old as he sat handcuffed and slumped up against a police vehicle with blood running out of his mouth. One of the officers is heard saying that Nichols must have been on something due to the alleged strength he had after being stunned with a Taser.
However, Nichols had no drugs in his system and only had a blood alcohol level of .049 percent, which is well under the legal limit in the state.
“That man got tased with the prongs running down the f—king wrong street,” said one officer. “He on something bad. We lit him up, he didn’t want to stop. We did what we did. … I’m talking ’bout take folks out, all out in incoming traffic and everything.”
The officer also claimed Nichols was strong and grabbed for one of the officer’s guns at the scene. “He reached for Martin’s gun and slammed him to the car, and it was on from there…He’s stronger than a motherf—ker…. It’s more than dope. He’s c—k strong and high.”
The officers also claimed Nichols was driving into oncoming traffic.
After viewing the initial footage last year, Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, said, “They murdered him. … All my son was trying to do was get home. He was two minutes away when they stopped him.”
His stepfather, Rodney Wells, added that his son ran because he was scared for his life. “Our son ran because he was scared for his life. When you see the video, you’ll see why he was scared for his life, and he was trying to get home to his mother and father.”
Footage also shows the couple at the scene being told by an officer that Nichols ran from them and that he may have been on drugs. “My son? Not Tyre,” Mrs. Wells replied.
Audio footage also captured Officer Irma Montes and another officer saying that the SCORPION unit was “too hands-on” and “adrenaline junkies” who were trying to “up one another.”
All five police officers were fired on Jan. 20 after an internal investigation found them responsible for Nichols’ death. They were charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. They all pleaded not guilty last February, but Mills later pleaded guilty to two felony charges of obstruction of justice and excessive force. As part of his federal plea deal with prosecutors, Mills agreed to cooperate in the state case against the other four officers for their trial, which is expected to begin in May.
The prosecutors will recommend a 15-year sentence in exchange for his testimony.
Mills admitted that he initially lied in official police reports because he “understood from his experience working with Scorpion Team One officers” that “no one was going to admit that unlawful force had been used.”
Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, the attorneys for the family, released a statement following the release of the additional footage.
“As our legal team reviews the new body cam videos of Tyre Nichols’ horrific death at the hands of Memphis Police, we expect the videos to affirm what we have said from day one: that there was absolutely no justification for the officers’ brutal and inhumane actions. We will continue our unflinching look at this tragedy and stand strongly with Tyre’s family in their continued grief and fight for justice.”
