Why did the cops pull over Tyre Nichols: Was He on drugs? After the death of Nichols on January 10, 2023, was out by Police department, people have been curious about the case.
Following the death of Nichols, who was pulled over on January 7, five Police officers were fired by the Memphis Police Department on Friday, January 20.
Since the death of Nichols was out, their family was not convinced, and they started an investigation which proved that he was bitten by five of the Police officer.
Nichols’s funeral was done on January 17 among his family member; he was 29 and was African-American. People are curious to learn more about the case, stay with her to learn about the issue in detail.
Why did the cops pull over Tyre Nichols: Was He on drugs?
Memphis Police stopped Nichols for reckless driving. The 29-year-old fled the traffic stop scene but was eventually taken into custody after what Memphis Police say were two confrontations with its officers.
Nichols was sent to the hospital as he complained of shortness of breath following his arrest; he was in critical condition.
Following the incident, his family mentioned he was also sprayed and restrained. After a particular investigation, five Police officers, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith, were fired on January 20, 2023.
In a statement after the arrest, officers violated department policies; they used excessive force, duty to intervene, and duty to render aid.
Although after the Police officer was arrested, his family wanted to know the real reason behind the incident, they were not convinced about how they left him in that situation for reckless driving.
Mulroy said,” no matter their race, they could be influenced by poor department training or the actions of other officers, “I think the answer to all those questions is yes.”
After all, viewers following the news have shared condolence for his family and supported his justice.
Tyre Nichols Body Cam Footage On Reddit
Nichols’ death and the firing of five officers on January 20, his family and supporters of Nichols’ has been calling for the release of body cam video from the day of those “confrontations.”
After, they started a protest and asked for a body cam. Jim Strickland, Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis, and Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy discussed and promised to release the video.
The officer and mayor mentioned they would officially hold a private viewing of the footage with Nichols’ family and Crump before revealing it publicly.
They mentioned they would release the video on January 23, 2023, but on January 23, they released a letter saying that releasing the video soon could jeopardize because of ongoing investigations.
David mentioned his family has been cooperating with them, and they will probably release the video soon.
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy also issued a statement mentioning similar issues; they said that Nichols’s family had seen the video, and publicly releasing it could hamper authorities’ investigation into those officers’ actions.
This is acceptable, but many people have tried convincing others to have video cam out in public.
Hopefully, people who have been supporting Nichol’s family and have been looking out for his family and they will get to understand the rules behind the authorities as well.
Who was Tyre Nichols, and what do we know about his arrest?
Nichols, a 29-year-old father and FedEx worker, has been described by family as an avid skateboarder. On the night of Jan. 7, he was returning home from a suburban park where he had taken photos of the sunset, according to his family’s attorneys.
On the way home, he was stopped for reckless driving, according to a statement from the Memphis Police Department. As officers approached Nichols to arrest him, a “confrontation” occurred and Nichols ran away, police said. A second “confrontation” also occurred at some point before Nichols was ultimately arrested, police said.
Memphis Police Director Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said in a Jan. 27 interview on CNN that investigators “have not been able to substantiate” the initial report of reckless driving.
Police said that, following the arrest, Nichols “complained of having a shortness of breath, at which time an ambulance was called.” Nichols was taken to a hospital in critical condition, police said.
Three days later, on Jan. 10, Nichols “succumbed to his injuries,” the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said, but did not elaborate on what those injuries were. An official cause of death has not been released.
Rodney Wells, Nichols’ stepfather, told CBS affiliate WREG-TV his stepson suffered a cardiac arrest and kidney failure because of a beating by the officers.
Attorneys for the family said that an independent autopsy they commissioned found that Nichols suffered “extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating.” The full findings of the report were not made public.
What does the bodycam and surveillance footage show?
Four videos were released Friday, including footage from police body cameras and street surveillance cameras.
They show officers first removing Nichols from his vehicle after pulling him over, an initial struggle when Nichols breaks loose and runs away from the officers, and then disturbing images of Nichols being restrained and beaten by five officers at an intersection.
The videos show Nichols being kicked and punched in the head while being restrained, pepper sprayed, and struck multiple times with a baton.
The first body camera video shows a police officer approaching a car with his gun drawn while Nichols is being forcibly pulled out and pushed to the ground by another officer.
In the video, Nichols tells the officers he was “just trying to get home.”
The officers continue to push him to the ground and an officer pulls a Taser stun gun and points it at Nichols’ leg. Another officer pepper sprays Nichols before he breaks loose and runs down the street.
The second video, taken from an elevated street surveillance camera, shows officers restraining and beating Nichols at a different location, suburban intersection. Two officers are shown holding Nichols on the ground, when a third officer approaches and kicks Nichols in the face. A fourth officer with a baton also beats Nichols, hitting him in the back. Nichols stands up and stumbles while being held by two officers, when another one punches him in the face several times until the blows make Nichols collapse.
The third video shows bodycam footage and audio of the beating, after officers apprehend Nichols at the intersection. While he is being held on the ground, the officer wearing the camera pepper sprays Nichols repeatedly. The officer later deploys the retractable baton.
The fourth video shows bodycam footage of an officer chasing and knocking Nichols to the ground at the intersection. The video is almost entirely obscured for several minutes, but audio conveys the apparent struggle for Nichols to catch his breath and the sound of handcuffs clicking.
“Get him up!” one of the officers says. Officers can be seen gathering at the intersection, with police lights and Nichols sitting on the street with his back against a gray car, his hands behind him. An officer shines a flashlight on his face a couple of times, and Nichols seems to be bleeding from the side of his head.
Nichols sits in the dark against the car, barely moving. At some point paramedics are seen walking up to him, propping him up as he slumps to the side.
Nichols’ family and their attorneys, along with several Memphis authorities, had viewed the footage before its public release.
In a Jan. 23 press conference, family attorney Ben Crump called the video “heinous” and likened the police’s actions to the infamous 1991 beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police.
“He was a human piñata for those police officers,” Antonio Romanucci, another family attorney, said.
Nichols’ mother, RowVaugn Wells, told “CBS Mornings” that when she saw the video, “All I heard my son say was, ‘What did I do?’ I just lost it from there.” She said she could not watch it in full.
In a video statement, Memphis Police Chief Davis called the officers’ actions “heinous, reckless and inhumane.”
“This is not just a professional failing. This is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual,” she said.
The officers involved
Five Memphis police officers were determined to be “directly responsible for the physical abuse of Mr. Nichols,” said Davis, the police chief. The five officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills, Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith — were fired on Jan. 20. All are Black.
After watching the footage released on Friday night, Sheriff Floyd Bonner, Jr. of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office said two other officers who responded to the scene were “relieved of duty pending an investigation.”
The five officers charged were members of the so-called SCORPION unit, a group created by the department to focus on fighting street crime.
On Jan. 26, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy announced that a grand jury had handed down indictments on charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression against all five former officers.
Second-degree murder is a class A felony punishable by 15 to 60 years in prison under Tennessee law.
Martin’s lawyer, William Massey, confirmed Thursday that his client had turned himself in. Martin was out on $350,000 bond as of early Friday morning, jail records showed.
Bean, Smith, Mills and Haley all posted $250,000 bond and were released.
Massey said none of the officers intended to kill Nichols.
“No one out there that night intended for Tyre Nichols to die,” Massey told reporters. “No one. No one. Police officers have a difficult and dangerous job. It’s probably one of their worst fears that something like this would happen on their watch.”
One of the officers, Haley, was accused previously of using excessive force. He was named as a defendant in a 2016 federal civil rights lawsuit while employed by the Shelby County Division of Corrections.
The plaintiff in that case, Cordarlrius Sledge, said he was an inmate in 2015 when Haley and another corrections officer accused him of flushing contraband. The two officers “hit me in the face with punches,” according to the complaint. A third officer then slammed his head to the ground, Sledge said. He lost consciousness and woke up in the facility’s medical center.
The claims were ultimately dismissed after a judge ruled that Sledge had failed to file a grievance against the officers within 30 days of the incident.
Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner, Jr. announced on Friday, Jan. 27, that two deputies who were at the scene following Nichols’ arrest by Memphis police have been “relieved of duty.” Bonner said that an “internal investigation” has been launched to determine if the deputies violated any policies. No further details were provided.
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