Memphis police chief: Officers were ‘directly responsible’ for physical abuse of Tyre Nichols

Memphis, Tenn., Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said Wednesday that five Memphis Police Department (MPD) officers were “directly responsible” for the treatment of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who died after a traffic stop.

Nichols was pulled over on Jan. 7 for reckless driving, according to the department, when he attempted to flee the scene and a “confrontation” broke out. Attorneys representing Nichols’s family said Nichols was beaten for three minutes by police officers. 

After the confrontation, Nichols reported shortness of breath and was transported to a hospital, where he died three days later. 

The department opened an investigation into the five officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith — all of whom were subsequently fired.

“These officers were found to be directly responsible for the physical abuse of Mr. Nichols,” Davis said in a YouTube video, adding that the officers “failed our community and they failed the Nichols family.”

Davis said the department was sharing the status of the investigation with the public in an effort to be honest and transparent. She added that the department is working to ensure “absolute accountability for those responsible for Tyre’s death.”

“This is not just a professional failing,” she said. “This is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual. This incident was heinous, reckless and inhumane.”

The Department of Justice and FBI have opened a civil rights investigation into Nichols’s death, which Davis said the department is cooperating with.

Body camera footage from the incident has not yet been released to the public, though Nichols’s family has viewed it and called it “horrific.”

Davis said the footage will be released in the coming days. 

“I expect you to feel what the Nichols family feels,” Davis said. “I expect you to feel outrage in the disregard of basic human rights, as our police officers have taken an oath to do the opposite of what transpired on the video.”

Davis said she expects citizens to protest and demand action for results, but she cautioned against any violent protesting or community destruction, something that took place around the country in 2020 after George Floyd was murdered by a now-former Minneapolis police officer.

“In our hurt, in our outrage and frustration, there’s still work to be done to build each other up and continue the momentum of improving our police and community relationships and partnerships, to show those who watch us now that this behavior is not what will define our community and our great city,” said Davis. “What comes next is our defining moment.”