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☆ Tyre Nichols: Ex-officer testifies he beat ‘helpless’ Nichols then lied about it
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-18 | by ( Associated Press | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Ex-officer testifies, ‘He was helpless’Prosecutor Kathryn Gilbert asked Martin whether officers were allowed to use force out of anger. In this still from video released by the City of Memphis, officers from the Memphis Police Department beat Tyre Nichols on a street corner. Martin said he told Lt. Smith that Nichols was high, without evidence, and that officers lied about Nichols driving into oncoming traffic and swinging at them during the traffic stop. The truth needs to come out,” Martin told Gilbert. While Martin was away from his team, Justin Smith called and Martin told him he was having homicidal thoughts, Martin said.

Persons: ” Tyre Nichols, “, ”, Emmitt Martin III, Nichols, Martin, Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith, ” Martin, Desmond Mills, Demetrius Haley, Bean, Smith, Desmond Mills Jr, Mills, RowVaughn, Rodney Wells, RowVaughn Wells, Nichols ’, ‘, Kathryn Gilbert, Tyre Nichols, Memphis Martin, Dewayne Smith, Gilbert, John Keith Perry, Perry, Ben Crump Nichols, — Organizations: Tennessee AP, Memphis, Scorpion, City, Memphis Police Department, Scorpion Unit Locations: Memphis, Tennessee, Tadarrius Bean Shelby, City of Memphis, City

☆ Tyre Nichols trial update: Former officer testifies
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-17 | by ( Associated Press | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

The four men, along with fellow officer Desmond Mills Jr., were fired after the January 2023 death of Nichols. For the first time in the trial, jurors heard from one of the officers who beat Nichols. Haley eventually stopped Nichols’ Nissan, pulled out his gun and snatched Nichols from his vehicle without telling Nichols why he was stopped. Former officer: Memphis officers are not trained to punch or kick peopleVideo also shows the officers milling about and talking as Nichols struggles with his injuries. In this still from video released by the City of Memphis, officers from the Memphis Police Department beat Tyre Nichols on a street corner.

Persons: Tyre Nichols, Emmitt Martin III, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Nichols, Desmond Mills Jr, Martin, Mills, —, Ben Crump, Haley, Nissan, ” Martin, Jan, Elizabeth Rogers, “, Larnce Wright, Wright, Martin Zummach, handcuff Nichols, Zummach, Smith, ” Zummach, ” Kevin Whitmore, Bean’s, ” Wright Organizations: Tennessee AP, Memphis, Scorpion, Memphis police, City, Memphis Police Department Locations: Memphis, Tennessee, City of Memphis, City

☆ Opening statements are set in the trial of 3 ex-Memphis officers charged in Tyre Nichols’ death
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-11 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Ap-Live-Blog-Byline-Image.Png | The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Opening statements were expected Wednesday in the federal trial of three former Memphis police officers charged with federal civil rights violations in the January 2023 beating death of Tyre Nichols. Police video released that month showed the five officers, who also are Black, beating Nichols as he yelled for his mother about a block from his home. The officers said Nichols was pulled over for reckless driving, but Memphis’ police chief has said there is no evidence to substantiate that claim. The three officers now facing trial, along with Martin and Mills, were fired for violating Memphis Police Department policies. They had been members of a crime suppression team called the Scorpion Unit, which was disbanded after Nichols’ death.

Persons: Tyre Nichols, Nichols, Mark Norris, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr, Black, Martin, Mills, Preston Hemphill, pummeled, Hemphill, Dewayne Smith, Bill Lee, “, Lee Organizations: Memphis, Prosecutors, U.S, District, Police, Former Memphis, FedEx, Memphis Police Department, Scorpion Unit, Tennessee Gov, Republican Locations: MEMPHIS, Tenn, Memphis

CNN —A second former Memphis police officer facing federal civil rights charges in the violent arrest and beating death of Tyre Nichols changed his plea to guilty on Friday in federal court. Mills and Martin are among five former officers charged in the death of Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man. He admitted he “willfully used unreasonable force against Tyre Nichols,” “aided and abetted” other officers in assaulting Nichols and “failed to intervene” in other officers’ use of force. Police said the unit was permanently deactivated shortly after Nichols’ death. The beating and Nichols’ death led to protests and vigils in Memphis and other major US cities, reigniting the contentious debate over policing and the ways that law enforcement treat Black people.

Persons: Tyre Nichols, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Nichols, Martin, Mills, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, ”, “, ” “, abetted, ” RowVaughn Wells, “ Tyre, Martin’s, ” Wells, ” Ben Crump, Rodney Wells, we’ll, Derek Chauvin’s, George Floyd, ” Crump, Crump Organizations: CNN, Memphis, Force, Memphis Police Department, Police Locations: Memphis, Minneapolis, America, Shelby County

☆ Republicans Move to Block a Policing Change Made After Tyre Nichols’s Death
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Emily Cochrane | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The NewsTennessee Republicans moved on Thursday to overrule a change to the policing of Memphis traffic laws that was a direct response to the death of Tyre Nichols, who was fatally beaten by officers last year during a traffic stop. A new Memphis law, supported by Mr. Nichols’s family and seen by many as a crucial reform in the weeks after his death, had prevented the police from intervening over more minor traffic offenses, such as a broken taillight. BackgroundThe legislation does not directly name Memphis or the law, which was overwhelmingly approved by the City Council after Mr. Nichols’s death last January. But the Memphis Republicans who led the push to override the ordinance explicitly criticized it as an impediment to controlling crime. It remains unclear why Mr. Nichols was stopped.

Persons: Tyre Nichols, Nichols’s, Bill Lee, Nichols Organizations: News Tennessee Republicans, Republican, Gov, City, Memphis Republicans, Police, Memphis Police Department Locations: Memphis

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The city of Memphis released hours of additional video and audio on Tuesday in the case of five fired police officers charged with the violent beating and death of Tyre Nichols last January. Police video released weeks after the killing showed the five officers beating Nichols as he yelled for his mother just steps from his house. That video also showed the officers milling about and talking with each other as Nichols sat on the ground, struggling with his injuries. The four who remain charged face federal trial in May and state court trial in August. Prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed that most police personnel records that pre-dated Nichols’ beating could be released.

Persons: Tyre Nichols, Desmond Mills Jr, Mills, — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin, Justin Smith —, Nichols, Black, Shelby, James Jones Jr, Garrity, Nichols ’ Organizations: Police, Associated Press, “, ”, Prosecutors, U.S . Department of Justice, Memphis Police Department, Justice Department Locations: MEMPHIS, Tenn, Memphis

WESTCLIFFE, Colo. (AP) — Authorities in Colorado hunted Tuesday for a man they believe shot and killed three people and critically wounded a fourth in a property dispute. The 45-year-old suspect was believed to be driving a white Ram 1500 pickup truck with a camper shell, according to a Facebook post from the Custer County Sheriff's Office. The shooting took place on the property line in a wooded area and began with “a suspected property dispute,” the Sheriff's Office said. Political Cartoons View All 1260 ImagesTwo men and a woman died at the scene and a fourth person was taken to a trauma center in critical condition but was expected to survive, the Sheriff's Office said. Four people were wounded Monday night when a gunman opened fire in a Walmart in Beavercreek, Ohio, before apparently killing himself, police said.

Persons: “, weren't, Mavis Christian Jr Organizations: —, Residents, Sheriff's, Walmart, Memphis Police Department Locations: Colo, Colorado, Custer, Rocky, Westcliffe, Colorado Springs, Beavercreek , Ohio, Tennessee, Memphis

[1/2] Desmond Mills Jr. with attorney Blake Ballin stand as five former Memphis police officers who have been charged in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols attend an arraignment hearing at Shelby County courthouse in Memphis, Tennessee, U.S., February 17, 2023. REUTERS/Karen Pulfer Focht/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 1 (Reuters) - One of the five former Memphis police officers charged in the death of Black motorist Tyre Nichols has asked a U.S. District Court judge to change his plea of not guilty in the federal civil rights case, court records showed on Wednesday. The Daily Memphian, citing an interview with Ballin, said the plea would affect the state case against him. The officers also face a federal civil suit filed by civil rights lawyer Ben Crump on behalf of the family. The other officers charged in the case are Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean.

Persons: Desmond Mills Jr, Blake Ballin, Tyre Nichols, Karen Pulfer Focht, Black, Mark Norris, Mills, Nichols, whacked, Ballin, Ben Crump, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Justin Smith, Tadarrius Bean, cuffed, Daniel Trotta, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Memphis, REUTERS, U.S, of, Police, The Memphis Police Department, Memphis Fire Department, Thomson Locations: Shelby County, Memphis , Tennessee, U.S, Western, of Tennessee

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — LGBTQ+ and civil rights advocates on Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit challenging Tennessee's aggravated prostitution statute, arguing that the law stems from the decades-old AIDS scare and discriminates against HIV-positive people. The law was later reclassified in 2010 as a “violent sexual offense," requiring those convicted to face lifetime sex offender registration. Another plaintiff has struggled for years to find housing that complies with Tennessee's sex offender registry requirements. A separate plaintiff is currently incarcerated for violating a sex offender registry requirement and has chosen not to seek parole despite being eligible because complying with registry requirements has become so onerous. According to the complaint, 83 people are currently registered for aggravated prostitution in Tennessee.

Persons: ”, Molly Quinn, OUTMemphis, Bill Lee, Jonathan Skrmetti, David Rausch, Frank Strada, —, Jane Doe Organizations: American Civil Liberties Union, Transgender Law Center, ”, of, Centers for Disease Control, Prevention, CDC, Memphis Police, Unit Locations: Tenn, Tennessee, United States, U.S, Memphis, Illinois, New Jersey, Virginia, Shelby County

☆ Five former Memphis police officers indicted in Tyre Nichols killing
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The five officers, all of whom are Black, were fired from the department. According to Tuesday's indictment, they have been charged with four federal counts including "Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law: Excessive Force and Failure to Intervene." The indictment says the five former officers provided "false and misleading information" and "intentionally omitted material information" in their communications with the Memphis Police Department in the reports about Nichols' arrest, the filing added. In July, the Justice Department opened an investigation into whether the Memphis Police Department has an unconstitutional "pattern or practice" of using excessive force and racial discrimination. The Justice Department said it had received multiple reports of Memphis officers using excessive force and reports they may use force against people who are already restrained or in police custody.

Persons: Tyre Nichols, Nichols, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin, Desmond Mills Jr, Justin Smith, Eric Beech, Kanishka Singh, Caitlin Webber Organizations: Memphis, Mason, : Church of God, Police, Force, Memphis Police Department, Justice Department, Thomson Locations: Memphis , Tennessee, U.S, WASHINGTON

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — One person was shot and critically wounded at a concert headlined by rapper Lil Baby in Memphis, Tennessee, on Thursday night, police and local media said. The Memphis Police Department posted on social media that officers responded to a report of a shooting at 10:23 p.m. at 191 Beale Street, which is the address of FedEx Forum. A male victim was transported to Regional One Health Medical Center in critical condition and no other injuries were reported, police said. Lil Baby was rushed off the stage when shots were fired inside the venue, WREG-TV reported. Political Cartoons View All 1148 ImagesA representative for the rapper did not immediately respond to a request for more information from The Associated Press.

Persons: Lil Baby Organizations: The Memphis Police, FedEx Forum, Health Medical Center, Associated Press Locations: MEMPHIS, Tenn, Memphis , Tennessee

☆ U.S. Justice Department investigating Memphis police for civil rights violations
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Jonathan Allen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division has opened an investigation into whether the Memphis Police Department has an unconstitutional "pattern or practice" of using excessive force and racial discrimination, department officials announced on Thursday. Earlier this year, the Justice Department agreed to join city officials and other agencies in a review of the Memphis Police Department after its officers fatally beat Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, in the Tennessee city in January. The federal investigation announced on Thursday is not tied to any specific incident, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said at a press conference, though she noted Nichols' "tragic death" in her remarks. "City and police department leaders recognize the need to scrutinize the police department's practices to prevent such incidents from ever happening again," Clarke said. Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Tyre Nichols, Kristen Clarke, Nichols, Clarke, Jonathan Allen, Aurora Ellis Organizations: U.S . Department of Justice's Civil, Memphis Police Department, Justice Department, Thomson Locations: Tennessee, New York

☆ Justice Dept. Opens Civil Rights Investigation of Memphis Police
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( Rick Rojas | More About Rick Rojas | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Justice Department said on Thursday that it had begun a sweeping civil rights investigation into policing in Memphis, examining allegations of pervasive problems with excessive force and unlawful stops of Black residents that were amplified by the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols in January. In announcing the investigation, officials specifically cited the death of Mr. Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, whose beating by Memphis police officers on Jan. 7, 2023, was captured by body camera and surveillance footage. The case stoked outrage across the country and directed intense scrutiny onto how the Memphis Police Department operates. The investigation, officials said, intends to explore those broader concerns and whether there has been a pattern or practice of violating civil rights. Kristen Clarke, the assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said on Thursday that though Mr. Nichols’s death was a factor in the investigation, the inquiry was “not based on a single incident or event.”

Persons: Tyre Nichols, Nichols, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Kristen Clarke, Nichols’s, ” Organizations: Memphis, Memphis Police Department, Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division Locations: Memphis, Minneapolis, Louisville, Ky

CNN —Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old Black man who was violently beaten by Memphis police officers in January, died from blunt force trauma to the head and his death has been ruled a homicide, his autopsy results revealed Thursday. Nichols was repeatedly punched and kicked by five Memphis Police Department officers on January 7 following a traffic stop and brief foot chase. A toxicology report performed on Nichols detected the presence of chemicals associated with marijuana and alcohol use, the report says. CNN has contacted the Shelby County medical examiner to obtain a direct copy of Nichols’ autopsy report. The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office told CNN on Tuesday that it will not pursue criminal charges against Hemphill.

"We're not endorsing what happened, but we do not believe that criminal charges are appropriate," Mulroy told reporters. An autopsy will be available soon and is expected to confirm that Nichols died of injuries from the beating, Mulroy added. Police video of the incident showed officers kicking, punching and beating Nichols with a baton on Jan. 7. Hemphill, along with those accused of murder and a seventh officer, were relieved of their duties by the Memphis Police Department. Prosecutors will not charge any other officer who arrived after the beating but are still investigating fire department staff, Mulroy said.

April 19 (Reuters) - Lawyers for Tyre Nichols' family filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in federal court seeking damages from those responsible for the beating death of the 29-year-old Black man at the hands of Memphis police. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said in a tweet that the lawsuit would seek to hold the Tennessee city, the Memphis Police Department and individual officers accountable for Nichols' death in January. Nichols' death on Jan. 10 came three days after his beating by police during a traffic stop and triggered a nationwide outcry and protests, leading to the arrest and indictment for second-degree murder of five police officers. Police and fire department responders left a mortally wounded Nichols on the ground, his hands cuffed behind his back, and intermittently propped him against a patrol car. Besides seeking damages for wrongful death, Crump's legal team is also suing Memphis police for intentional infliction of emotional distress for lying to his mother.

☆ Death toll from US storms rises to 29
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 2 (Reuters) - The death toll from a violent storm that whipped up tornadoes in the Southern and Midwestern regions of the United States rose to at least 29 over the weekend, according to officials and media reports. In Memphis, Tennessee, two children and an adult were found dead on Saturday after the storm's heavy winds knocked trees onto several houses, according to the Memphis Police Department. In Tennessee's McNairy County, officials reported that an additional two people had died, having reported seven deaths earlier on Saturday, according to local media. U.S. President Joe Biden declared a "major disaster" in Arkansas on Sunday, ordering federal aid to help with the recovery. loadingSimilarly severe weather, including thunderstorms, was forecast for Tuesday in much of the Midwest between Chicago and Little Rock, Arkansas, the center said.

☆ Tennessee lawmakers worked to loosen gun laws in the weeks before a shooter killed 3 adults and 3 children at Covenant school in Nashville
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In the weeks before the Covenant school shooting, Tennessee lawmakers tried to loosen gun laws. Legislation moving through committees would lower the minimum age for carrying guns from 21 to 18. Tennessee's gun laws are already lax, allowing open carry of loaded handguns without a permit. Nashville Mayor John Cooper, speaking on MSNBC Tuesday, said he hopes this is a moment in which the state can get back to "common sense" gun laws, particularly with regard to assault-style weapons. Tennessee's gun laws are already considered lax.

☆ Lieutenant in Tyre Nichols' death retired before termination hearing, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 18 (Reuters) - A lieutenant with the Memphis Police Department involved in the traffic stop that led to the killing of Tyre Nichols in January filed for retirement before a disciplinary hearing to fire him, according to media reports. The former lieutenant submitted his retirement on March 1, a day before officials at a hearing held in his absence determined he should have been fired, according to the reports. Disciplinary charges against Smith alleged he did not provide Nichols with appropriate medical care even as he heard the man say "I can't breathe." Five officers, all Black, have been criminally charged with second-degree murder, assault, kidnapping, official misconduct and oppression for Nichols' death. A total of 13 officers have come under investigation for their conduct in Nichols' arrest, authorities have said.

REUTERS/Karen Pulfer FochtMarch 17 (Reuters) - The family of a Black man who died while in a Memphis jail on Friday called on authorities to identify the correctional officers involved in the altercation that killed him and to hold them accountable. Gershun Freeman, 33, died on Oct. 2 at the Shelby County, Tennessee, jail after being beaten by guards and held prone on the ground with a knee on his back for more than five minutes while handcuffed. More than five months after his death, the family is still seeking answers and justice, his mother, Kimberly Freeman, said at a press conference outside the county jail where her son was held. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident, while the Shelby County District Attorney office handed the case over to the Nashville District Attorney Office to avoid a conflict of interest. Released earlier this month, 14 minutes of video show the violent altercation between jail guards and Freeman that ended with his death.

☆ Memphis to release more video, audio in beating death of Tyre Nichols
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Brendan O'Brien | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

March 8 (Reuters) - Memphis was expected on Wednesday to release more than 20 hours of additional video and audio footage related to the killing of Tyre Nichols, an unarmed Black man who was beaten by police officers during a traffic stop in January. The city will also release records regarding the completed administrative investigations into the killing of the 29-year-old, she said. Nichols' death led the city council to approve a series of police reforms on Tuesday, including the creation of an annual review of training techniques. One video showed officers dragging Nichols from the driver's seat of his car before he runs away. Three members of Memphis Fire Department were also fired and one was suspended, Sink said on Tuesday.

☆ Tyre Nichols death: Memphis mayor and police chief requested DOJ's review of the police department
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Michelle Mark | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Justice Department is reviewing the Memphis Police Department after Tyre Nichols' beating death. The review was requested by Memphis' mayor and police chief, the Justice Department said. The investigation was prompted by the death of Tyre Nichols, who was severely beaten by Memphis police officers. It will also review specialized street crime units like the SCORPION Unit, which the department deactivated after Nichols' death. The review was requested by Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn J. Davis, according to the DOJ.

Police officers involved in the deaths have become an intense focus of investigation, protest, and media coverage. Despite being at the heart of some of the most defining incidents in modern policing, most of the officers involved continue to live their lives under the radar. Insider's review of 72 cops involved in two dozen of the most notorious police killings of the past 30 years shows the many different paths officers have taken. There's no nationwide view into what happens to officers involved in egregious incidents of violence. In rare cases, cops involved in these killings have tried to publicly rehabilitate their image rather than seek out anonymity.

☆ The white officer fired for his role in Tyre Nichols' arrest was once praised for his ability to 'extinguish a volatile situation'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Haven Orecchio-Egresitz | Narimes Parakul | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tyre Nichols died three days after being pulled over and beaten by Memphis police officers. Preston Hemphill was the sixth officer fired over his role in Nichols' arrest. Hemphill, who joined the Memphis Police Department in March 2018, was fired on February 3 for his role at the scene of Tyre Nichols' beating. "As per departmental regulations Officer Hemphill activated his bodycam," Gerald said. Hemphill was the sixth and only white officer to be fired by the city of Memphis over the SCORPION unit's beating of Tyre Nichols.

☆ Memphis police officers who beat Tyre Nichols attacked Black veteran 3 days earlier, lawsuit alleges
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Haven Orecchio-Egresitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A Memphis man alleges in a federal lawsuit that the cops who beat Tyre Nichols attacked him, too. Three days before Nichols' beating, he was also beaten by the SCORPION unit officers, the suit says. "Unknown to Mr. Harris at the time – the black masked assailants were members of the Scorpion Unit." "Mr. Harris had great difficulty walking because his left leg was gashed from the assault," the suit alleges. "But for witnesses coming outside to observe after hearing Mr. Harris' loud screams, Mr. Harris would likely have suffered the same fate as Mr.

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