The five officers charged with the murder of 29-year-old Tyre Nicholls have pleaded “not guilty” as they appeared in front of a judge in Memphis. Memphis PD officers Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr, Emmitt Martin III, Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith are facing second-degree murder charges after Nicholls died in the hospital following a routine car stop. As the officers filed out of the court room, Sky News correspondent James Matthews asked: “Why did you beat Tyre Nichols to his death?
“What did you think of your performance on video? Your police chief says your actions were inhumane, what do you say?”
But Haley, Mills Jr, Martin, Bean and Smith refused to stop to answer questions from the press and left escorted by their attorneys.
The judge confirmed the former Memphis PD officers would need to stand once again in court on May 1 after appealing for patience as the evidence is reviewed.
The five policemen were fired after the Memphis Police Department launched an internal investigation into the arrest of Nichols, who died in a hospital on January 10.
The officers also have been charged with aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.
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Nichols’ death prompted nationwide protests and renewed an intense public discussion about police brutality.
The 29-year-old father of one was stopped for an alleged traffic violation and pulled out of his car by officers who used profanity, with at least one brandishing a gun, records showed.
Footage of the stop shows one of the officers hit Nichols with a stun gun before he attempted to run away toward his nearby home.
The five policemen caught up with Nichols and punched, kicked and slugged him with a baton as he yelled for his mother.
The group were all part of a crime-suppression team known as the Scorpion unit, which has since been dismantled.
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She disbanded the Scorpion unit, which she created in November 2021, after Nichols’ death.
One other white officer who was involved in the initial traffic stop has been fired. An additional officer who has not been identified has been suspended.
Three Memphis Fire Department employees who were present at the site of the arrest have also been fired.
Two Shelby County sheriff’s deputies who also were there have been suspended without pay for violations including failing to keep their body cameras on.
Nichols’ family, their lawyers, community leaders and activists have called for changes within the Police Department on issues related to traffic stops, use of force, transparency and other policies.
Some of the relatives and lawyers have praised Davis and the department for the swiftness of their response and said it should be the standard for other investigations into police brutality.
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