Five former Memphis police officers were charged with murder and other crimes in the killing of Tyre Nichols, a Black motorist who died three days after a confrontation with the officers during a traffic stop.
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told a news conference that although the officers each played different roles in the killing, “they are all responsible.”
Earlier this month, police pulled over a 29-year-old man in Memphis, TN, for reckless driving. During the traffic stop, police say they had two “confrontations” with Nichols, who then tried to flee on foot. Police then say he suffered from shortness of breath.
Nichols was sent to the hospital in critical condition. He died three days later. Preliminary findings revealed Nichols “suffered extensive bleeding” caused by a “severe beating.”
The five officers involved in the incident have since been fired.
The officers, who are all Black, each face charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct, and official oppression.
All five officers were charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct, and official oppression.
They each face up to 60 years in prison.
Nichols’ family — which has compared the incident to the 1991 beating of Rodney King — says the arrests give them “hope.” And that they will “continue to push for justice.”
In the meantime, many are awaiting the footage. The city is set to release police body cam footage on Friday night.
It comes after the Nichols family described the video showing officers beating Nichols like “a human piñata” for three minutes.
The city’s police chief urged residents to protest peacefully after seeing the video, despite calling the fired officers’ actions “heinous, reckless, and inhumane.”
There remain multiple ongoing investigations into the incident, including civil rights investigations from the Justice Department and FBI.
Tyre Nichols’ death marks the latest high-profile death of a Black man at the hands of the police. It comes as the U.S. continues to experience a reckoning over how race plays a role in everyday police interactions, as well as the disproportionate deaths of Black Americans in interactions with police.
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