Memphis, Tennessee –
The family of Tyre Nichols, who died three days after a brutal beating by five Memphis police officers, has been linked to the city of Memphis, individual police officers, and his case, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court in Memphis. He sued the emergency medical personnel who
The lawsuit, filed by Law Vaughn Wells, the mother of Tire Nichols, seeks a jury trial and monetary damages.
The lawsuit accuses Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis of launching a crime suppression unit called the Scorpion. The lawsuit alleges that the Scorpions used “extreme intimidation, humiliation and violence” and “excessively focused and targeted young black men”. The five officers charged were members of the unit. The unit disbanded after Nichols was beaten.
Nichols was targeted by the unit only because he was a young black man, the lawsuit states.
The city of Memphis declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Nichols died in January, three days after being brutally beaten by five Memphis police officers. It was the latest in a series of violent encounters between police and blacks that have spurred protests and renewed public debate about police brutality. was indicted on
The lawsuit names as defendants the City of Memphis, Police Chief Davis, five officers who were fired and charged, another officer who was fired but not charged, and another officer who retired before being fired. It also names three Memphis Fire Department employees who were fired after authorities said they were unable to provide assistance to Nichols because he was suffering from injuries.
According to the complaint, police stopped Nichols while he was driving for “never substantiated” reasons.
Nichols was so badly beaten that he was “left indistinguishable,” the lawsuit said, comparing his case to Emmett Till’s nearly 70 years ago and calling officers “a modern-day lynching mob.” “Unlike Till, this lynching was carried out by people wearing the department’s sweatshirts and vests, and their actions were explicitly and implicitly sanctioned by the City of Memphis.
As the handcuffed and severely injured 29-year-old Nichols struggled to stay upright and sat leaning against an unmarked police car, body cameras of the five officers themselves showed that they punched Nichols, After that, I recorded that I ignored him for nearly 30 minutes.
Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III, and Justin Smith were charged with second-degree murder in Nichols’ death. they pleaded not guilty.
Martin, Haley, and now-dismissed police officer Preston Hemphill allege Nichols was driving recklessly before stopping him on the night of January 7 while driving home from the park.
They forced Nichols out of the car, pinned him to the ground, and pepper sprayed him while threatening to fire a stun gun at his broken arm. fired.
Nichols was captured by Mills, Bean, and Smith minutes later. Police records show that the five officers, joined by Haley and Martin, punched, kicked, pepper sprayed, and batoned Nichols. Memphis Police Commissioner Davis said he saw no evidence to justify the suspension of traffic or the response of officers.
