Protests across the US against police brutality after death of Tyre Nichols

News, US January 30, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

Protestors took to the streets all over the U.S. against police brutality after the release of a video of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols being violently beaten by Memphis Police. Nichols was brutally beaten on January 7 after a traffic stop and died on January 10, 2023.

A day after the video was made public, thousands of demonstrators marched through New York City, Atlanta, Boston, Baltimore, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Portland, among other cities across the U.S., raising signs bearing his name and calling for an end to abuses of authority.

According to the Memphis police spokesperson Major Karen Rudolph, all five police officers who were involved in the violent abuse have been fired and charged in Nichols’ death. The officers were part of the SCORPION unit in Memphis Police.

Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith, the police officers involved, who are also of African-American descent, have been terminated from the services for “excessive use of force, duty to intervene, and duty to render aid” and criminally charged, though it’s unclear what role each of them allegedly played. It has been almost 20 days since the incident took place and the five former officers are still free on bond. The is scheduled for arraignment on February 17.

Launched in 2021, the Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods (SCORPION) unit was established to provide a direct response to some of the city’s worst crimes while focusing on preventing homicides, robberies, assaults, and other felonies. A day after the video of Nichol’s violent beating was made public, the Memphis police department announced it is permanently deactivating the unit.

^{Five former police officers Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills, Jr, Emmitt Martin III, Justin Smith, and Tadarrius Bean have been charged with murder over the killing of Tyre Nichols. (Image Credit: SkyNews)}

The video shows Nichols yelling for his mother during the January 7 encounter, which begins with a traffic stop. The video goes on to show officers repeatedly beating the young man with batons, punching him, and kicking him down to the floor. His hands can be seen restrained behind his back the whole time.

Nichols was left slumped to the ground in handcuffs after being brutally beaten by the police officer. He lay there for more than 20 minutes before the stretcher arrived at the scene. Nichols was eventually hospitalized and died three days later.

Memphis police say Nichols fled the custody on foot, and when apprehended by the officers “another confrontation occurred,” resulting in his arrest. On January 10, three days after the stop, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced Nichols had died due to injuries sustained in the “use-of-force incident with officers” and preliminary results of an autopsy that was commissioned by attorneys for his family show that Nichols suffered “extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating.”