What to know about the video showing Tyre Nichols’ fatal beating by Memphis police officers
MEMPHIS, Tennessee — MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP) — Band Nichols screamed for his mother as Memphis police beat him after a traffic stop on Jan. 7, 2023, about a block from where he lived with his parents. The 29-year-old He died in hospital three days later.
In an analysis of what officers said happened that night, The Associated Press reviewed the following information: hundreds of pages of evidence And hours of video of the scene, including the officers’ body cameras. The cameras showed a very different scene than what the officers had painted in their words.
More than a year and a half after Nichols’ death, three former officers facing federal criminal charges about the fatal beating. That’s in addition to allegations that they failed to render aid when he fell into a patrol car and onto the sidewalk, and claims that they lied or withheld crucial information to protect themselves from repercussions.
Two other former officers have pleaded guilty and could testify against their former colleagues.
The lawsuit will shine a spotlight on a case that has already sparked global outrage and amplified calls for police reform in the city and the U.S. as a whole.
The three officers also face charges in Tennessee state courts, where the other two former officers, Desmond Mills and Emmitt Martin, plan to plead guilty, as they have in federal court. The U.S. Justice Department has opened an investigation into the Memphis Police Department, and Nichols’ family has sued the city over his death.
Below is an analysis of how the statements the officers made in their reports at the time match up with what video footage shows during four key moments.
Memphis police officers Demetrius Haley, Preston Hemphill and Martin were the first three to encounter Nichols after pulling him over for what they called reckless driving.
Haley wrote in his response to the resistance form that Nichols “ignored all instructions” to get out of the car. He wrote that Nichols “flailed his arms” and cursed at the officers. Martin’s report alleged that Nichols grabbed one of the officers’ guns.
Police bodycam footage shows officers immediately pulling Nichols from the vehicle. Officers curse, yell and threaten to shock Nichols with a Taser.
The video shows Nichols being forced to his knees as he calmly tries to tell the officers, “I’m on the ground.” Nichols is then physically subdued by the three officers who use a Taser and pepper spray on him.
After Nichols fled and was caught just a stone’s throw from his parents’ home, officers Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith also joined the fray.
Haley, Bean, and Smith all described in their responses to the resistance forms that the officers used “soft hands” techniques to subdue Nichols: Haley during the traffic stop, and Bean and Smith at the scene of the assault.
“Soft hands” is a technique described in Memphis Police Department guidelines as “guide checks, touch pressure points, wrist or arm locks, and takedown techniques with minimal risk of injury.”
The incident report only mentions that officers used chemical agents and a baton on Nichols. It does not mention the kicks, punches and blows officers used while his arms were restrained or tied up.
Multiple videos show a nearly three-minute barrage of fists, feet and baton blows to Nichols’ face, head, front and back as officers restrain him.
Bean, Haley and Smith are accused of acting with “deliberate indifference” as Nichols lay on the ground and struggled with his injuries. The indictment, which includes a number of charges, alleges that the officers “deliberately” disregarded Nichols’ medical needs by failing to provide him with medical care and failing to tell a police dispatcher and emergency medical personnel that Nichols had been repeatedly struck.
Bean, Haley and Smith have pleaded their innocence.
Smith’s body camera captured him and another officer exchanging high fives just feet away from Nichols. Aerial video shows two officers fist bumping each other.
Meanwhile, Nichols appears to lose consciousness, collapses and doesn’t respond when officers try to pull him back up.
On Bean’s body camera, the officers brag about the attack and laugh, speculating that Nichols was high. Nichols’ autopsy later found only low levels of alcohol and THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in his system.
On Mills’ bodycam, Lt. Dewayne Smith and Mills go to Nichols’ home where he lives with his parents, a few blocks from where he lies bleeding. His parents ask what Nichols is being held for.
Lieutenant Smith tells them he was arrested for driving under the influence and that Nichols was “drunk.”
In another interaction, Hemphill tells Nichols’ mother that he fought with officers, and another officer tells her that he had “incredible strength.” Smith, the former lieutenant, resigned rather than be fired, and Hemphill was fired. Neither faces criminal charges.
Hemphill later speaks with Nichols’ parents at the scene of the first traffic stop, where his mother, RowVaughn Wells, expresses her disbelief.
“My son? My son? Not Tyre,” Wells said.
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Mattise reported from Nashville, Tennessee.