One year ago this month, Tyre Nichols died after being brutally beaten by a mob of Memphis police officers. The city just released an additional 21 hours of footage from the incident revealing disturbing new details of what happened that fateful night.
On Tuesday, the City of Memphis released various forms of camera footage from neighborhood homes, nearby businesses, traffic cameras and more in connection to the Jan 7, 2023 murder.
Nichols was coming from taking pictures of the sunset when he was pulled over for alleged reckless driving, his family said. However, a group of officers dragged him out of his car, beat and pepper-sprayed him. After fleeing down the street toward his home, a slew of officers from the SCORPION neighborhood crime unit cornered Nichols and beat him unconscious.
A few videos were released weeks after the incident. Now, there’s even more evidence to add context to the shoddy work of these cops.
Locker Room Talk
For nearly 15 minutes of Nichols not receiving any medical attention, the group of cops have locker room banter about the incident, talking about how they were “fighting for their lives” and how they punched him so many times and he still wasn’t subdued.
The officers claim Nichols swung at the officers, tried to take one of their guns and resisted arrest with an unusual amount of strength. Former MPD cop Demetrius Haley describes how multiple officers deployed their pepper spray at Nichols and got splashed in the eye.
More officers in the background of the video suggest he stashed drugs as he ran from them and sound shocked that they didn’t find any drugs on him. The officers are also seen examining his criminal record and address him as “Nicholas.”
Drug Abuse Banter
“And he’s strong as a motherf*cker... that’s more than dope. He was caught strung and high, that’s what it is,” said one officer in the body camera video.
While Nichols is barely able to speak, groaning in pain, another superior officer grills him with questions: “What did you take? You ain’t take no drugs? You took something, right? You didn’t have nothing?”
Nichols says “no” but the rest of his responses are barely intelligible in the audio.
When the paramedics arrive on the scene, they appear to give Nichols medication to reverse an opioid overdose and prepare to hook him up to an IV as the ambulance arrives. The EMT’s call his name over and over but Nichols is silent, seemingly unconscious from his injuries.
“He’s not injured. He’s just high,” one of the medical technicians says in the video. One officer is heard asking a dispatcher where Nichols was being transferred to in the hospital. The dispatcher says “critical.”
Police Confront Nichols’ Family
In one officer’s body camera, two cops are seen approaching what appears to be Nichols’ home. An officer asks Nichols’ parents, Rodney and RowVaughn Wells, if they know Tyre Nichols because the address on his identification matches to the home. He also informs them that Nichols was in custody for a DUI.
Mrs. Wells asks what happened, to which the officer responds, “It’s complicated.” As Nichols’ mother continues asking more questions, the officer audibly stumbles over his words and arrives at the question of whether Nichols had a history of drug use. The Wells deny that their son used drugs and RowVaughn asks plainly where her son is.
The officer says he’s being treated by paramedics “a little ways from there” but then also tells her that he’s “in the neighborhood.”
As the two cops walk away from the home they discuss amongst themselves a suspicion that Nichols’ parents “know more than what they’re letting on” and that they “don’t want anyone to know about their son.”
One officer is heard asserting to the other that they did “everything by the book” but also says “He needs to make it. He ain’t look too good.”
“Not my son...”
In another body camera video, MPD cop Preston Hemphill is seen confronting Nichols’ parents on the corner of a street where his vehicle was stopped.
“We tried pulling over your son, he ran from us, we found him at this red light, pulled him over again, he started fighting with us and took off. And he got pepper sprayed and took off running,” he explains to the Wells.
Wells appears evidently confused, scoffs and responds, “My son? My son? Not Tyre.”
“Yes ma’am, he was fighting hard too,” Hemphill responds.
Nichols mother then explained that her son doesn’t drink but only “smokes a little weed.” She then suggested that in order for her son to behave the way the officer described, he must have been drugged or roofied while hanging out with his friends earlier.
For the Record...
It was revealed in Nichols’ autopsy that he sustained a number of critical injuries and the only chemicals found in his system were THC and a low level of alcohol, per The Associated Press. He died three days after the incident.
Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis later clarified there was no evidence to sustain the allegation that he was recklessly driving under the influence.
Five officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin, Justin Smith and Desmond Mills Jr. -- are facing murder charges and civil rights violations in connection to the incident. Mills pleaded guilty to his federal charges. His buddies entered not guilty pleas. The two EMT’s and a fire lieutenant were fired.