Police in Memphis, Tennessee There was released body camera footage from the January 7 arrest of Tyrus Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who died three days after officers beat him and pepper-sprayed him.
The footage (warning: contains disturbing content) gives a graphic depiction of officers demanding that Nichols get out of his car after a suspicious traffic stop of an unarmed man.
Nichols was heard yelling “I didn’t do anything” as officers approached him with a gun pointed at him.
Officers could be heard yelling various obscenities at Nichols during the arrest.
Officers threatened to use a Taser on Nichols, who replied “stop” while he was on the ground surrounded by officers.
“Dog, put your hands behind your back before I destroy you,” said one of the officers.
Another officer then said he was going to beat Nichols “fuck,” threatening force as the young man lay on the ground.
“There are so many of you now. I was just trying to get home,” Nichols told police.
Officers could then see Nichols pepper spray him and kneel down as he yelled back, “I didn’t do anything.”
Nichols, a FedEx worker known for his love of skateboarding, was arrested after he was pulled over for alleged reckless driving. Officers say he fled the scene on foot and was arrested. Nichols told officers he had “shortness of breath,” and was hospitalized with serious injuries. He died on January 10th.
Officials have not released a cause of death, but Nichols’ family said he suffered a heart attack and kidney failure. His family accused the arresting officers of beating him and pepper-spraying him and shocking him with a gun.
On Monday, Nichols’ family, accompanied by civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, viewed body camera footage of the arrest.
The traffic stop happened two minutes from Nichols’ home, his mother said, and he was beaten by police within 80 yards of his home.
Crump described the video as “sad” and “heinous” during a press conference Monday.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis called the footage and beating Nichols “unrecognizable” and said the video was “equal if not worse” than footage of the 1991 beating of Rodney King by police in Los Angeles.
The Memphis Fire Department confirmed to HuffPost that two employees involved in Nichols’ “initial patient care” were relieved of duty pending an investigation. The department had no further comment.
Desmond Mills Jr., Justin Smith, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Emmitt Martin III were identified as the officers involved in the fatal arrest of Nichols.
The officer is part of the Memphis Police Department’s SCORPION squad, whose name stands for Operation Street Crime To Restore Peace to Our Neighborhoods.
The police squad, introduced by Davis in 2021, is tasked with dealing with violent crime in the area.
The Memphis Police Department announced Friday that after an internal investigation, all five officers involved in Nichols’ arrest have been fired for violating department policies and practices, including those related to excessive force. All five officers were charged with second-degree murder by a grand jury.
Shelby County records say the officers were also charged with two counts of official misconduct, one count of official oppression, one count of aggravated assault and two counts of aggravated kidnapping.
The officers were all released on bail.
Activists and supporters gathered for a vigil for Nichols on Thursday night in Memphis. An independent autopsy review by Crump and attorney Antonio Romanucci showed that Nichols “suffered profuse bleeding from the beating.”
On Friday, Crump and Romanucci demanded that the Memphis Police Department dismantle the SCORPION unit.
A photo of Nichols in his hospital bed shows him with a swollen eye and other parts of his face disfigured. His family said his face was “unrecognizable.” Activists displayed the photo during a protest in Memphis, calling on officials to release footage of the Jan. 7 arrest.
The case was turned over to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Last week, the Justice Department and the FBI announced a civil rights investigation into Nichols’ death.