MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Five Memphis Police officers involved in the traffic stop that preceded the hospitalization and subsequent death of a 29-year-old man were fired Friday evening.
The police department said in a statement that the officers, who had been on the force between two and a half and five years, violated multiple department policies – including those on use of force, failure to render aid and their duty to intervene. Tyre D. Nichols of Memphis died three days after the traffic stop.
“Earlier today, each officer charged was terminated from the Memphis Police Department,” a written statement from Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said. “The egregious nature of this incident is not a reflection of the good work that our officers perform with integrity, every day.”
The charges mentioned by Davis are internal, department charges, not criminal ones.
Officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr., and Justin Smith were all fired Friday evening. They had been with the department since Aug. 2020, Aug. 2020, March 2018, March 2017, and March 2018, respectively.
The officers’ release followed a nearly two-week long internal investigation into possible policy violations that occurred during the traffic stop.
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“To see their faces makes me angry,” said Keyana Dixon, Nichols’ older sister. “I’m trying to hold it together, but my heart has been ripped open. This is torture.”
Jamal Dupree, one of Nichols’ older brothers, and Angelina Paxton, one of Nichols’ long-time friends, said they both feel let down by the officers involved.
“Knowing the history of police interactions with the Black community throughout time, these men took a position of power and instead of doing something to better the future and honor the past, they became no better than the days of Emmett Till,” Dupree and Paxton said in a joint statement. “They have let us all down. Justice will be served to them.”
Nichols died Jan. 10, three days after he was pulled over in a traffic stop.
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The traffic stop, Nichols’ hospitalization
According to a statement from the Memphis Police Department, officers pulled Nichols over around 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 7 and a “confrontation” ensued. Nichols eventually ran away, but was later arrested. Officers said another “confrontation” happened at that point, but he had already been detained.
It was after this that police say Nichols “complained of a shortness of breath,” and was taken to St. Francis Hospital in critical condition.
An image of Nichols shared with the public shortly after his death showed an intubated Nichols. His face was disfigured from a combination of significant welts. His nose was nearly bent into an “s” shape. Blood was seen on his intubation tube and on his hospital sheets.
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Family members of Nichols said he suffered a number of injuries, including kidney failure and brain swelling. He was hooked up to a dialysis machine prior to his death, Rodney Wells, Nichols’ step father, said.
Investigations into Nichols’ death
The officers involved were placed on leave and the internal investigation was opened by the city and police department. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was immediately called in to investigate the officers’ “use of force” in the stop by the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office.
A federal investigation would be announced just over a week after Nichols’ Jan. 10 death, with the United States Attorney’s Office, FBI Memphis Field Office and Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division saying an investigation into possible civil rights violations by the officers was underway.
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The response from public officials, including Davis, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy, has been to urge patience among the public as an internal investigation plays out.
Family and public demand transparency
Family and members of the public have demanded transparency, including the immediate release of any footage recorded during the traffic stop.
That footage is slated to be released as early as Monday, according to a city spokesperson, but will first be viewed by Nichols’ family before being publicly released. The original announcement that the footage would be released publicly came just minutes before a memorial service for Nichols.
Family has also demanded that all officers involved be charged with “murder one,” Wells said at the memorial service.
Nichols was remembered by friends and family as someone who would “light up the room” when he walked in. Paxton said Nichols died in “a dark way” for someone who had “this much light.”
Follow reporter Lucas Finton on Twitter @LucasFinton.
