Free zone Police brutality that does not stop
The five Memphis police officers linked to the January death of African-American Tire Nichols pleaded not guilty Friday to all of the crimes for which they are charged.
The former officers appeared in court this morning in Memphis to face charges of second degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.
The five (Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr.), African-American like the victim, were expelled from the Corps and face various criminal charges, while two other police officers are still under investigation.
On the night of January 7, Nichols was arrested in Memphis for an alleged traffic violation.
Three days later he died in the hospital from the consequences of the beating he received from the police.
His case came to light due to the existence of various videos, which were released twenty days later, showing how the agents detained the young man, forcibly removed him from the vehicle and beat him, kicking him in the head, beating him with a baton and even using an electric shock or taser stun gun.
When the beating was over they dragged Nichols to a patrol vehicle, sat him on the ground and bumped fists in celebration.
The brutality of the arrest, which led to his death three days later, has revived calls for police reform that would prevent the disproportionate use of force against the black community.
The Memphis Police decided to dismantle the "Scorpion" unit, to which the agents who gave the beating belonged and which was created in 2021 with the aim of reducing violence in the neighborhoods of the city that suffer it the most.
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