Five former police officers in the U.S. city of Memphis will be prosecuted for allegedly committing felony murder for the beating of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old African-American man who died Jan. 10 from injuries inflicted by the officers.
Tyre Nichols died three days after Memphis Police arrested him for alleged reckless driving on his motorcycle on Jan. 7. The officers stopped him at a traffic stop and used force to arrest him, CNN reported.
Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr, Emmitt Martin III, Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean, fired from MPD last week, will face charges of intentional manslaughter without premeditation, aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated kidnapping and two counts of misconduct.
These five former officers, also of African-American descent, joined the MPD within the last six years. Their arrest sets the stage for Friday afternoon’s release of surveillance and body camera footage of their interaction with Nichols, which local authorities say could trigger violence in Memphis.
Attorneys for Nichols’ family have recounted that he was severely beaten, citing a video the family was able to view earlier this week. Nichols had «extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating,» according to the legal team, citing preliminary results of an autopsy they commissioned, ‘The Washington Post’ has reported.
Police officials who have seen the videos have also strongly condemned the arrest. At a press conference Thursday announcing the criminal charges, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David B. Rausch, said the officers’ actions were «absolutely egregious.»
Nichols’ arrest and subsequent death come amid increased scrutiny of how police treat black people, particularly since the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, after which the protest movement known as Black Lives Matter was born.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
