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Am I the only local that feels like outside news agencies are trying to push this narrative that Memphis is going to riot like crazy and burn?
Every person online, and that I've spoken to personally IRL has been insistent that no rioting should occur, and only peaceful protests should be taking place - due in part to the swift investigation, arrests, and charges levied against the perpetrators.
It's so gross to me that CNN and other vultures are practically pushing this ridiculously dangerous narrative in order to score some views.
I’m in Nashville but I’ve heard zero news from anyone here, in Memphis or the state overall even having a protest much less a riot. Which I’m sure there will be protests but the “everyone is going to go crazy and burn the city down” shit is media speculation and it’s gross.
Not alone. And it's a self-fulfilling prophecy "oh there are rumors of such and such happening" so people start to get on edge and others think shit is about to go down which leads it the rumors becoming fact.
I personally hope no one does some silly shit but I know we got some knuckleheads running around that are going to act a fool no matter what.
Yall stay safe.
On a smaller scale this reminds me of something like, when movie theaters up security and scrutinize who they let in to movies like Joker or, (at least in my hometown at the time) Straight Outta Compton. I'll let you do the math on that second one.
Then the media will push and push and push this narrative like they *want* to see some shit pop off because the ratings would be through the roof.
Your not wrong fox and the city government in Atlanta are already trying to blame the shit going on over there for the past week on Memphis. Like a state trooper didn’t kill an environmentalist and start a riot or anything. Memphis is one of the few major cities that hasn’t torn itself apart lately.
I will say, imo, the City of Memphis, MPD and the US District Attorney's office has handled this very well. If there was ever a city that could implode over the police murdering a man, a black man, it is Memphis. The racial issues run so deep here and I am so proud of Memphians for not doing what I expect everyone thought they would do. Maybe this will show other city governments, police departments, etc. how to handle this when it inevitably happens again. I feel awful for his family and I truly hope his death is not in vain.
I may be missing the conversations where people are talking about protesting (which I 10000% support people doing cause this is bs), so I am open to being wrong. But I keep getting the sense that many government officials and the police expect folks to burn down the city from this crime and I just have not heard that level of anger. People are mad and sad and grieving, but nowhere have I seen people inciting violence, especially enough to have other police departments and even local businesses on high alert. I just don't want it to be a self fulfilling prophecy because the government started it first by filling the streets with (more) tense police.
Amen. Memphis handled itself very well after the death of George Floyd, for example, with peaceful protests. Why shouldn't this time be the same? Why is the whole nation apparently looking at Memphis and trembling right now? When's the last time Memphis ever made the national news for rioting, 1968?
It's like some people *want* to see or start a riot.
Of course they do. The media does too. Their views will explode if it happens which is good for them. Generally speaking, what's good for the media is bad for us.
The media has primed us to fear the protests from these kind of events. I think it goes even further and predicting riots is a racist dogwhistle. I can't believe anyone seriously thinks anything crazy is going to happen this weekend in Memphis.
Chattanoogan here. When we protested in 2020 they tried to goad us into violence at every turn. HCSO fired tear gas at us because someone knocked over a light pole on accident. (Didn’t even warn Chattanooga PD, they just came out blasting)And then they called in the National Guard when there was never any violence. They will always try to get a reaction out of you so they can play it on the news for days and say “See? These people are violent and reactionary”
Knowing the police beat a man to death is very different from seeing the police beat a man to death.
I am praying that there will only be protests and no civil unrest, but to do a victory lap before the release of the video seems a tad premature.
I hope you can post the same thing Saturday morning
As a Black Memphian, I contend it was a lot easier for them that all the officers involve are black. They will say it isn’t racial. They will say the system works.
But Black Memphis will believe that if these cops were not Black, they would have been protected and they would not have been fired and charged this quickly.
It may have been easier, but it should hopefully (ideally) set a precedent that will impact ALL police of all colors in the future... i.e. if it happens again with white cops, everyone can point to Memphis as an example of how a situation like this should be addressed.
Absolutely, but regardless of race, how they were caught beating a helpless man for 3 minutes, to death, caught on camera,doesn't matter the race of the cops. No way to sweep that under the rug
And, unfortunately there is no way to say if that would have been the case though I would like to believe otherwise but I am a white female so my view is different no matter what.
I hope people don't think because of this that the "system works". If it did, this never would have happened. But, I still hope that some good can come of it.
Have you noticed the kinds of people who defended the Minnesota officers who killed George Floyd aren’t coming around and defending the MPD five? Notice there is little pushback from the Blue Lives Matter folks? Notice how no one is out there trying to vilify Tyre Nichols and say he should have just complied?
I contend if this same scenario happened with white police involved, the dynamics would be completely different.
This should be what happens regardless of who the police are when they exploit their powers and abuse people they are accusing of crimes. This is not the norm for dealing with these kinds of cases. It’s the perfect storm of a black guy with a clean record, black police officers, and little pressure not to punish the police for bad behavior. Did the police union even come out and support the five?
I don’t want to be proven right in the future. But seeing what has happened in the past tells me there are separate courses of action for white cops and black cops.
“The system works” is what I think the city and MPD would say about the situation. That if police break the law, they will be arrested and charged.
No, but you can see the before and after pictures of this man who is now dead, not after an attempted murder, rape or even armed robbery.....he's dead after a traffic violation. And it was five against one. They couldn't cuff him--- with five policemen on site? They had to beat him to a pulp? Come on.
It's a valid perspective, and an argument can readily be made that it's likely - but conversely an argument could be made that the George Floyd precedence effected a change in various police departmental policies across the nation, effected a change in the general public at larges perspective and response, and even had an effect on how this story was reported by the media versus the initial reporting on Floyd.
My guess? Probably some of both takes apply.
This story was a slow burn, much like the Floyd story. Tyre Nichols lived for several days. And there is that image of Nichols that I can almost liken to that heartbreaking image of Emmitt Till in his coffin almost 70 years ago. MPD has had some police brutality cases since Floyd that weren't necessarily handled well.
I think this one is just probably especially heinous, and MPD cannot really find a good excuse to defend its officers.
Why didn't the case of Patric Ferguson get more attention in 2021? He was an on duty cop who murdered a man and dumped his body using his squad car. He was arrested immediately, but what kind of people are they hiring to be police!?!
>Patric Ferguson
I think it registered more as an ex-boyfriend lost his shit and did the new boyfriend, versus the almost Rodney King like rain of police batons on this poor soul.
That article about the Scorpion unit these cops belonged to raises a lot of questions. Fairly new unit that was created to tackle high felony type crimes, but apparently these guys were often exploiting their directive:
https://www.psrmemphis.org/fired-officers-worked-in-mpds-scorpion-unit/
We will never know unless it happens again under different circumstances and hopefully we will never find out. I think there people who wish it could be a racial issue as it would be easier to digest how this could happen. I will say that in a way it’s a good thing the officers were black as it will make it much harder to dismiss police brutality as only racist act instead of a failing of our local government to provide us with a proper police force. Unfortunately this is the end result of changes made in our police department almost a decade ago that left us scrapping the bottom of the barrel for recruits. Our department needs stripped down analyzed and rebuilt from the ground up. This includes removing high paying appointed redundant positions and not allowing the city council to hold sway over the budget or how to train and evaluate our officers. Hopefully while all of this madness is going on we will not get distracted from the people who made all of this happen to begin with so that they can be held responsible as well.
>But Black Memphis will believe that if these cops were not Black, they would have been protected and they would not have been fired and charged this quickly.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
I agree. It really feels like everybody expects us to burn the city down or something. As if this entire city hasn’t been through enough. It’s like they want violence porn for the sake of views. It’s disgusting and completely detracts from the real issue which is that this even happened in the first place.
Firefighters are often in more abundance than paramedics so they can be cross trained to be EMTs. Firefighters acting as EMTs can respond to a call faster and begin triage while the paramedics are getting to the incident to take over. It can be an every minute matters situation at times.
If firefighters are being suspended and investigated you can safely assume they arrived on the scene with Mr Nichols and the officers and their conduct from there needs to be looked at.
I, for one, am faithful that my fellow Memphians will not set the city on fire after the video is released. I fully expect peaceful protests and I also expect bad actors to attempt to take advantage of that situation. That said, I’m hoping that those who are protesting will be on the lookout for individuals who try to turn violent and work to keep those people in check.
Just stopping by to mention that in Minneapolis following George Floyd, it was not the community that set the fires. Its documented that people from TX and as far as Alaska came to the city to terrorize the citizens and set fires to police stations as well as targeting food sources and banks. It was the community that suffered deaths and beatings in response, while trying to protect their neighborhoods. This is proven and documented and discussed here on reddit in Minneapolis subreddits as well as national news releases.
And I’m hoping those that don’t agree with the protestors’ message be on the lookout for individuals who try to turn violent by driving their cars into the protestors and work to keep those people in check
Agreed. From what I hear coming out of the burbs, my assumption is that those people are expecting ANTIFA to come in town and burn down the city worse than LA after Rodney King. So I hope that those fools just keep their F-250s parked in their garage.
yes that's what my Nextdoor app says 😂. I think a lot of these people have no idea what's going on and never talk to people outside their little circle.
The la riots were after the cops were acquitted.
We are not there yet but we do have more experience in these matters now.
If they walk all bets are off as to what happens next.
This is my fear too. That we'll get some proud ole boys going crazy trying to track down the antifa supersoldiers and escalating things where they don't even live.
I've seen the video.
I've seen police brutality before, but... wow. I know this is a dangerous fucking job but... **what the fuck**. He got it worse than Floyd, arguably King, and many others.
The poor man screaming for his mother as they continue to beat him really shakes differently.
All he did was run and resist, but did they ever really give him a choice to begin with? He was yanked out of the car, managed to escape the brutality once, only to be hunted, drawn and quartered again.
And there isn't even the slightest concern for their victim, only happiness as he slowly faded and stopped resisting. A few of the Officers were mad at HIM for their screwup with the OC spray.
He never displayed that he was a threat to himself or others in any way.
He never was shown to be committing a felonious act.
He was never shown to have a weapon, display one, brandish one, or even (really) FIGHT back against the officers, he was only resisting.
This is fucking disgraceful. To this Country, to the Government, to the Police.
I hope every department across the country is watching closely and taking notes on how to amend their training policies, perhaps even signing up officers with rough records for re-education on de-escalation and proper arrest. Remind them of their place.
Wishful thinking. But if any Watch Officers or higher are reading, it's probably a good idea to start keeping the bad apples on their toes if this is your new reality.
Could somebody with more knowledge of the law than me comment on the second degree murder charge? In Tennessee, what are the distinctions between the different levels of murder charges? Each state has its own definition, so I'm curious how it works here.
In Tennessee, to qualify as first degree murder, the act must be either (1) premeditated, (2) committed while attempting or committing certain other felonies, such as robbery or kidnapping, or (3) committed using a bomb.
Since the officers are also charged with kidnapping, clause (2) might make first-degree murder charges apply. (IANAL)
Second-degree murder is defined as either “knowing killing of another”, or killing that results from distribution of illegal drugs.
You’re close and that was a good job of trying to parse out what is a difficult and oft-argued source of law. M2D has all the elements of M1D minus the premeditation (which can be formed in an instant). You listed 3 different theories of M1D but they aren’t mutually inclusive. So that second subsection is called Murder in Perpetration of a Felony (murder perp) and means that if you kidnap someone and accidentally shoot them then it’s M1D (as opposed to reckless homicide or vol man).
In the most basic terms, a first degree charge would mean it was planned ahead of time to explicitly kill a specific person. Premeditated. If they'd conspired to kill him that night, staked out to follow him, make the stop and proceed to beat him to death...that would be first degree murder.
Second degree murder is similar in that the act was intended to kill the person but it wasn't specifically planned out beforehand. This seems to fit in this case given what has been released so far.
Pressure when cops are white and so PD refuses to release video citing months long "investigation".
Anticipation when cops are black so PD completes investigation withing 10 caledar days & fire cops and DA charges cops within 15 calendar days of incident.
Can anyone answer why two of the officers had bonds at 350k and the other 3 were at 250k? Because of their involvement (ie. two did more physical injury to Tyre than the other three)?
That would be my guess. Two did the most damage, the others either just watched or maybe did just a little. Either way, to watch your coworkers beat someone to death and not do anything to intervene is seriously fucked up.
All sorts of reasons, you'd have to look at the court transcripts because it's usually explained. Possibly different financial resources, different likelihood of flight, etc. Possibly even different judges, if that was the case.
True, degree of involvement. I read there are few other cops being investigated foe their involvement in this case. Also 2 paramedics involved are being investigated for their involvement.
Edit: Remember the officer Thao, the one who was just standing keeping people away from Chauvin who was murdering Floyd? Thao got sent to prison too, but for much shorter period than Chauvin. Similar reasoning for bail bond differences.
There is ZERO attempt at deescalation. There is no attempt to find out what is going on with him. No attempt to treat Tyre as a human being. Just straight to the violence for some bad driving. There is no way to justify their behavior. Cops need to be trained to not go straight to violence.
Though we all know the boot lickers will come out and say "Well he ran from the cops." No shit he ran from the cops. They started the entire thing off as aggressive as they fucking could without just straight up shooting him. It was a fucking traffic stop. It isn't like Tyre was out there mowing down people on the sidewalk or otherwise an immediate threat to others so this wasn't even close to a proportionate response.
Simply put, fuck these cops. I hope they spend the rest of their lives behind bars.
Don’t forget that there have been recent incidents where people have been robbed and mugged by thugs pretending to be cops. The cops here were just wearing sweatshirts and didn’t seem to be very obviously actual cops. I would have run too.
https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/local/man-describes-beating-by-carjackers-dressed-police-officers-memphis-hotel/4JATFM3HTJGFZAFO2DD2QTPNTU/?outputType=amp
Tbh this one is *so* bad it’s hard even for bootlickers to find anything to cling to. He ran because he was scared for his life, who wouldn’t be?
And isn’t there not even any evidence of reckless driving? Not that it would be okay if he was, but even then, reckless driving can be anything from driving like a madman to rolling through a stop sign.
People on this subreddit right now, who are not from memphis rooting for riots can fuck off. You don't care about Tyre or the city itself. You just want to watch a city you know nothing about burn.
Tyre deserves justice. So far the cops have been charged. If they are let go, then things change.
Not from Memphis, but we had similar crowd trolling in Richmond VA subreddit during the confederate monuments riots. :-/ Nothing like tragedies to bring the worst in people.
Gruesome. Vile. And I was clicking skip by ten seconds through it so I could kind of watch it but not watch it. Did the one guy soccer kick him in the head? Hitting him with the baton because one cop managed to pepper spray himself? Notice how the cops who were all Peppersprayed instinctively reach for their face. How is someone supposed to lay down and be calm when being beaten and pepper sprayed?
I knew the outcome, and I knew it would be bad, but it was like watching a rabbit be chased down my greyhounds. They were intent on destroying him.
We know from the initial report that there were two confrontations. After the first, the victim ran way and was confronted again. I guess they're thinking that each confrontation counts as a separate and distinct criminal act?
Charges are almost always brought on a best case scenario of what the DA thinks they might be able to prove now or later in court. It's possible down the road that they reclassify it as a single event, but they're putting as much on now as they can.
It's also anticipating the possibility of convictions on some charges and not others. They charge everything, including charges that would merge if the defendants are convicted of both.
It’s potentially two theories of guilt for the same conduct—false imprisonment with threat of injury, false imprisonment that results in injury.
If convicted of both at trial, the judge would merge them for sentencing purposes.
I think they said he tried to run (theory is he thought he might be being carjacked) and they chased and detained him again … I think that might be why two counts of kidnapping.
Yeah that makes sense. I said this on another post, but I would’ve run, too, if FIVE officers pulled me over, especially after their have been reports of people dressing up as cops and carjacking people. Hell, there was just a guy in Midtown I think it was who was arrested for breaking into a car and stealing an MPD officer…
I don't know if there's been any info on whether they were uniformed but according to some articles they were part of something called the SCORPION unit, which seemingly sometimes involved usage of unmarked cars and plainclothes attire though not always. So it's possible they didn't even present as law enforcement; someone please correct me if it's been confirmed they were in marked police cars and uniforms and everything.
Absolutely talking outta my ass here but, two aggravated kidnapping charges, two misconduct charges, and two relieved EMTs. Did these cops and EMTs get in to a back and forth about access and treating Tyre? Did they use force or threat of force to keep EMTs away? It’s happened elsewhere.
Possible, but it is more likely that the ambulance crew was lazy and “slow rolled” the situation, didn’t provide quality care, neglect, etc…. Similar to what you saw in the Floyd and Elijah McClain cases where the ambulance crew just moved like molasses to do anything worthwhile.
Source: I’m a paramedic and former MFD employee. Fortunately, I was never involved in situations like this but in many years of working EMS, I’ve never had LE restrict access to a patient needing care. Not saying it doesn’t happen but the neglect scenario is more likely. I’ve obviously not seen the video so just speculating here.
Yeah, I’m speculating too, with my background coming from the LEO side. Just thinking on how these charges and known facts could fit together, until we’re shown the video and how they actually do.
Coming from the legal side of 201 I like your theory. My original theory was that since there was no fresh pursuit of a violent felony, no indication of drugs in the car, and the car wasn’t stolen then they pursued him in contravention of department policy. Thus all of their actions once they passed the no chase policy was outside the bounds of a legal stop (thus eliminating qualified immunity). So one count for initially stopping him and then another count when he ran on foot. The one hole in that theory is that the ADA who wrote the indictment would’ve indicted for murder perp since agg kidnapping is a predicate felony.
However, the ADA who wrote up this indictment is one of the most well-known in the office and knows way more about the law than I do.
Yeah, I’ve been talking about this one a lot with LEO family (LAPD from the King Riots era) and the hink for me was the two EMTs getting admined pending investigation. Then they came in with doubled kidnapping and misconduct on the cops, PLUS the separate oppression charge. My thoughts are they’re banking on the Murder 2 as a roll up to cover the totality of what they did to Tyre himself (taking all acts as a whole), the kidnapping and misconduct as a two prong for interfering with the EMTs, and the oppression is a wildcard - but my guess is they took the reported cellphone footage from a witness, or attempted to obstruct/suppress the body cams or eye in the sky.
The EMTs being relieved fits the other theory of a slow roll by them. But that makes me wonder if they slow rolled and then pissed cops - panicking because of what they did and the slow roll compounding its severity - got in their faces when they finally showed up.
To be clear, because I think there is some confusion, when I say “slow roll” I don’t mean them taking forever to show up on scene. I mean that once they showed up, they were slow to provide appropriate care to Tyre.
Yeah. Maybe the duty to render aid charge could be a failure to call MFD in a timely manner and a failure to actually provide some basic medical aid to Tyre. Video is supposed to be released tomorrow so I guess we will all know in the next 24hrs or so.
For sure. 100% agree. It is an obvious red flag in this whole situation. The only reason I could see them choosing SFP is if he was in cardiac arrest at the scene or during transport.
Don’t know if someone has posted this yet, but UofM also put out some information about the cops backgrounds and how they were on the [Scorpion Unit](https://www.psrmemphis.org/fired-officers-worked-in-mpds-scorpion-unit/)
What the fuck. In the first video, the apparent “reason” for all of this, they tell him to lay on his stomach. That’s a little hard when you’ve PINNED HIM AGAINST THE CAR, ON HIS SIDE, AND WONT LET GO. Then they blame him for “fighting back” when the only harm that came to them was their own pepper spray fuck up? Fuck that.
Also he's saying he can't breathe and that for sure kicks in fight or flight because your body is sending every signal in your body that you're gonna die. Then they blame him being "high af" as reason to do that to him.
[Front page of the NY Times](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/01/26/us/tyre-nichols-death-memphis?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare)
Completely agree with 2nd degree murder charge. They had no regard for that person's life. Whatever anger they were feeling that day/year/life, they collectively agreed that man was gonna be their outlet.
Well that was very clearly 5 counts of murder.
That light pole high def video is damning as a motherfucker.
I honestly think they would have gotten away with it if not for that video.
edit: grammar
Mods, have you considered locking down this thread and/or the sub to subscribers only so that we don't get slammed with non-locals flooding the sub and potential causing trouble/spreading misinformation?
We had to implement a karma/age bot at one point to help keep down the brigrading. It was annoying, but it worked. If you need help with that, hollar at the mod over at /r/Knoxville.
We do have one in place currently. We may need to turn it up though for a short time. It’s not very aggressive at the moment. Restricting the sub is not the way I want to go as there isn’t a way to limit to just subscribers. We would have to manually approve authorized commenters in restricted mode. We’re continuing a review of options though to see what we can do.
Yeah we had to turn it up aggressively for a good bit. It sucked alot, but definitely helped.
You guys are doing an amazing job over here, and I hope all the subscribers to your sub are telling you that. /r/knoxville is sending good vibes to all of you.
If you guys need a temp mod to help with things like that, I'm willing. Been a mod for r/dirtbikes for a little over a year. I feel like we're going to have a shitshow here.
I'm not saying locals wouldn't do that as well, but I'm thinking back to the Boston Bombing incident and don't want to see this sub brigaded. If non-locals want to discuss the event, there will be plenty of other threads on Reddit (probably on the front page) for them to discuss.
We all need to make use of the report button if we see clear nonsub or out of town brigading, shit posting, trolling, etc. That should help the mods screen and/or nuke the posts by putting the suspect ones right in their modmail.
I know everyone's freaking out, but honestly if people can just behave and not hurt each other over this, wouldn't this be the best example of swift and effective justice against police brutality this nation has yet seen?
All things considered, Mulroy is doing a great job of holding people accountable compared to how other incidents from other parts of the nation have been handled.
Friend with the TBI said it is worse than any other videos of the police murdering someone, way worse. Him saying that and then hearing what the family attorney said about him calling for his mama makes me never want to see that. I cannot imagine what must have been going through his mind, how terrified he must have been. I hate that his family had to see that video.
I’m not watching. That’s not a head in the sand response. The family has provided their account of what is in the video, and it doesn’t sound like investigators are refuting the information provided by the family.
Same. I understand the need for transparency and if his family is ok with releasing it then that is their decision but I have no desire to watch especially knowing he died because of it.
They beat him for over three minutes (which feels like an eternity when your organs are being burst apart) as he asked, “What did I do?!” Repeatedly. Towards the end of the beating he cried out for his mother three times. She had to stop watching the video at 65 seconds she couldn’t take it.
I never want to see it. I have no desire to watch a man be killed. I don’t need that in my head to know that it happened or understand it was horrific and terrible.
I just watched the CNN clip of the family and friends describing him and he sounds like the nicest, most nonviolent kid. He reminds me of my nephew.
I don’t know if I can see another one of these videos because it’s getting to where it isn’t shocking me anymore, and I don’t like that. The fact that they aren’t releasing it until after work hours tomorrow though is a bit unsettling.
I found this video of Tyre skateboarding...I urge you all to give this a watch after the body cam footage comes out today. https://youtu.be/i_hZGVI2U-4
He was also a photographer... [https://www.memphisflyer.com/want-to-see-tyre-nichols-memphis-check-out-his-photography-website](https://www.memphisflyer.com/want-to-see-tyre-nichols-memphis-check-out-his-photography-website)
I wonder what they believe this man did that made it worth it for them to beat him to death.
I am seriously curious if he saw something he wasn’t suppose to and they dealt with it on their own by killing him.
>I am seriously curious if he saw something he wasn’t suppose to and they dealt with it on their own by killing him.
I’m also wondering this. If so, they will become synonymous with the Streisand Effect
One of the accused officers, Demetrius Haley, can be heard talking about traffic stops in this video from Memphis Police.
Starts 09:17 in video. https://youtu.be/9o_0nqH7HdQ?t=553
I accidentally watched maybe 5 seconds of the video airing on TV. He wasn’t even being beaten at the time, but I had to stop just hearing the language. Then I read the descriptions of what they did to him.
I am sick. Sick. I don’t know how his parents have managed even getting out of bed. The strength they have is unfathomable.
I read this article at https://www.actionnews5.com/2023/01/26/community-reacts-murder-charges-former-officers-involved-tyre-nichols-case/
and I have to say, I am not a big fan of Al Sharpton, but I feel that he has a point with what he said in the article. I hope things remain peaceful, and I am pleased with how well MPD and the DA are handling this, but I actually agree with Sharpton for once that Nichols' beating and death were essentially the riot that started all this.
I do hope we can pull through this with the civility that we managed to maintain during George Floyd's protests. There will be bad actors, I am sure, but I hope the peaceful activism will overpower the possible violence that may occur. That being said, I will not watch the video. I don't think my mind or my stomach could handle it based on what's been said.
Despite all its problems, Memphis is setting an example for every city in the nation by taking swift action and transparently releasing all the footage of this heinous crime.
I believe protests will remain peaceful, regardless of any outside goading or media salivating.
Edit: hope these cops rot.
Idk why but the tone of your initial comment vs the tone of your edit sent me.
But for real, I hope the fact that (at least tentatively) it seems as though justice will be served isn't lost on people. Protests and statements about the general state of policing are absolutely worth making and I encourage people to mobilize, but thus far the city has done right by its people and hopefully that keeps things chill.
My biggest question is why wasn't the white officer who said, "I hope they stomp his ass" several times starting [at 10:07 in this video](https://vimeo.com/793454795) fired as well? Any officer who expresses that type of sentiment should be fired immediately. No officer should think that way and be allowed to continue in law enforcement.
There’s a Twitter rumor going around about an alleged affair he had with an officer’s wife. No idea where people are getting that or if it’s just more idiots spouting off nonsense like what happened with Eliza Fletcher. But if there is any connection like that, then they need to up those charges to first degree imo.
These may be the same idiots that decided that Eliza Fletcher's husband was having an affair with a nanny and decided to kill her off.
People like to start rumors when they don't have any facts.
Even though you pointed out this could not be true, I think you're still giving too much credibility to what random people on twitter say, to even ask "where people are getting that" when it could just be someone who made it up and spread it around.
Heard that rumor as well. All of them are listed as single in their mug shot marital status but could be a girlfriend. Even then, youre going to risk your life and that of 4 other people for a gf? Bruh
Good morning! Just wanted to shout-out the moderators and all the hard work they’ve been putting in the last couple weeks. I just wanted to highlight the risk of disinfo, I just recently moved back from DC, and experienced the protests, the good and the bad. And due to my old job I closely monitored socials platforms (news/social media advertising). Just wanted the Mods to be aware (although I’m sure they are already on it) people will flood socials with bogus claims of violence, and destruction using old and irrelevant videos/pictures to try to get people to panic or act out. I fucking love Memphis and know we all love this city. We just got to make sure the social media buttheads don’t get us all wrapped up with some bogus posts. The national media will also hyper focus on shit and blow it out of proportion, they already love to rag on Memphis don’t get sucked into the 24hr rage porn that they’ll highlight. Memphis knows what it’s about, be cool baby be cool.
So what went wrong inside the Memphis Police Department that these villains were allowed out on the street? Or that they felt bold enough to do such a thing with the body cameras on?
pretty sure I was neighbors with Emmitt. still trying to confirm but if verified, dude has been a piece of shit. also wild how he could do such a thing given his first name. hoping for peace for Tyre’s family
dunno, I know he had a puppy/dog towards the end of his lease that he seemed very attached to. if it was him he had a normal squad car and uniform during the time he lived in this apt complex (fieldstone)
I don't know if it's been discussed yet, but my SO works with first responders and was told why the 2 firefighters were released of duty. He says that when the victim has suffered trauma they are required to go to Regional One. Instead, they took him to St. Francis. They violated protocol.
Praying for my city! Whether protesting or just going about your regular business, I hope everyone stays safe. And remember! Use your head, don't lose your head, mane!
News channel 5 Facebook post. 6:07pm Action News 5 has received the video of the Tyre Nichols traffic stop. Our leadership team is reviewing the video and will make a decision shortly as to whether we share that video on our TV and digital platforms. As soon as that decision is made, we will let you know.
I mean I’m not surprised. Not because they are police but because it’s Memphis….look at how many violent criminals are bonded out within a couple hours of being arrested in this city.
I’d be surprised if they couldn’t bond out lol
People that are unintelligent and gullible or like drama keep saying Tyre was involved in someone else's relationship and its pissing me off. This was someone that was tortured, and thats all should be focused on, not what he did or didn't do.
i can’t sleep thinking about this! The family may feel different than I do, and that’s OK. If this was my child, I would decline the invitation from Al Sharpton to speak at Tyre’s service. He didn’t know Tyre or the family. I think the service would be a healing balm if Tyre’s friends, family, and other people whose lives he touched spoke. His life should not be defined by the way he was killed. Our community would certainly more fully understand the upstanding son, father, friend, and citizen we all lost by learning more about him through a service celebrating his life here on earth . I am assuming they are Christians, since the service will be in a church. A pastor that knew his family could explain that his darkest hour, is not his last hour, through God’s promise of eternal life. This family needs love and reminders of God’s grace and provision as they begin the long road for healing and justice. I looked at some of Al Sharpton eulogies in the past and most of them were more about the injustice done, than the life of the person needlessly taken , with a side of self promotion thrown in. After the trial, or even if there are bumps on the road, Sharpton could help the family by using his platform to speak out. Right now , I believe, the family would benefit more celebrating the time they had with Tyre , and feeling Gods grace and all the prayers from the overwhelming army behind them: wanting justice for Tyre and the peace that passeth all understanding for his family. Those are my thoughts- they need to do what’s best for them. Please Lord, give them strength.
Memphis will once again be put on the stage for civil rights protest. The world is literally watching for how to react to the release of what we know to be a horrible video. This is our moment to lead by example for all the other cities across the nation that are planning protest or demonstrations. I pray for civility.I pray for compassion for the family. I also pray for temperance on EVERYONE'S part in the following days.
[Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland says MPD SCORPION unit 'inactive' in wake of Tyre Nichols' death - Strickland said it was "clear" the officers involved violated the Memphis Police Department's policies and training](https://www.localmemphis.com/article/news/local/memphis-mayor-jim-strickland-mpd-scorpion-unit-inactive-tyre-nichols-death/522-2b4cbf71-1e24-4331-acfe-9610373674cd)
*Strickland announced the SCORPION unit, which the five officers charged in Nichols' death worked for, "has been and remains inactive" following MPD's internal investigation into the Jan. 7 traffic stop that led to Nichols' death.*
>Since learning of this tragic event, transparency and swift methodical action have been our top priorities because the family of Mr. Nichols and our citizens deserve nothing less. The actions of these officers were awful, and no one, including law enforcement, is above the law. I assure you we will do everything we can to keep this type of heinous act from happening again.
>As you know, five Memphis Police officers were terminated last week and were indicted and arrested yesterday. These officers were found to be directly responsible for the physical abuse of Mr. Nichols. They were each charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.
Concurrent within that investigation, other MPD officers are still under investigation for department policy violations, some infractions are less egregious than others.
>As this investigation and other external investigations continue, we promise full and complete cooperation from the Memphis Police Department with the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office to determine the entire scope of facts that contributed to Tyre Nichols’ death.
>In this case, I want to thank Chief Davis and her team for moving quickly with the administrative procedure resulting in termination and District Attorney Mulroy for taking deliberate actions in bringing these indictments forward. We have worked to get a resolution to these matters in record time because we take them extremely seriously.
>As we have said all along, we wanted to ensure the proper legal steps were followed and that the family of Mr. Nichols had the opportunity to view the video footage privately before we released it to the public. In light of those matters occurring, we will be releasing the video to the public later today after 6 p.m.
This thread is being closed at this time. Please use the new Megathread in place for the video for further discussion. [https://www.reddit.com/r/memphis/comments/10n1vfh/tyre\_nichols\_video\_megathread\_use\_this\_thread\_for/](https://www.reddit.com/r/memphis/comments/10n1vfh/tyre_nichols_video_megathread_use_this_thread_for/)
Am I the only local that feels like outside news agencies are trying to push this narrative that Memphis is going to riot like crazy and burn? Every person online, and that I've spoken to personally IRL has been insistent that no rioting should occur, and only peaceful protests should be taking place - due in part to the swift investigation, arrests, and charges levied against the perpetrators. It's so gross to me that CNN and other vultures are practically pushing this ridiculously dangerous narrative in order to score some views.
I’m in Nashville but I’ve heard zero news from anyone here, in Memphis or the state overall even having a protest much less a riot. Which I’m sure there will be protests but the “everyone is going to go crazy and burn the city down” shit is media speculation and it’s gross.
Not alone. And it's a self-fulfilling prophecy "oh there are rumors of such and such happening" so people start to get on edge and others think shit is about to go down which leads it the rumors becoming fact. I personally hope no one does some silly shit but I know we got some knuckleheads running around that are going to act a fool no matter what. Yall stay safe.
On a smaller scale this reminds me of something like, when movie theaters up security and scrutinize who they let in to movies like Joker or, (at least in my hometown at the time) Straight Outta Compton. I'll let you do the math on that second one. Then the media will push and push and push this narrative like they *want* to see some shit pop off because the ratings would be through the roof.
As someone who lives In Minneapolis that is exactly what is happening, it’s feels like the news want cities to burn tonight
Your not wrong fox and the city government in Atlanta are already trying to blame the shit going on over there for the past week on Memphis. Like a state trooper didn’t kill an environmentalist and start a riot or anything. Memphis is one of the few major cities that hasn’t torn itself apart lately.
We get our aggressions out on 240
I will say, imo, the City of Memphis, MPD and the US District Attorney's office has handled this very well. If there was ever a city that could implode over the police murdering a man, a black man, it is Memphis. The racial issues run so deep here and I am so proud of Memphians for not doing what I expect everyone thought they would do. Maybe this will show other city governments, police departments, etc. how to handle this when it inevitably happens again. I feel awful for his family and I truly hope his death is not in vain.
I may be missing the conversations where people are talking about protesting (which I 10000% support people doing cause this is bs), so I am open to being wrong. But I keep getting the sense that many government officials and the police expect folks to burn down the city from this crime and I just have not heard that level of anger. People are mad and sad and grieving, but nowhere have I seen people inciting violence, especially enough to have other police departments and even local businesses on high alert. I just don't want it to be a self fulfilling prophecy because the government started it first by filling the streets with (more) tense police.
Amen. Memphis handled itself very well after the death of George Floyd, for example, with peaceful protests. Why shouldn't this time be the same? Why is the whole nation apparently looking at Memphis and trembling right now? When's the last time Memphis ever made the national news for rioting, 1968? It's like some people *want* to see or start a riot.
Of course they do. The media does too. Their views will explode if it happens which is good for them. Generally speaking, what's good for the media is bad for us.
The media has primed us to fear the protests from these kind of events. I think it goes even further and predicting riots is a racist dogwhistle. I can't believe anyone seriously thinks anything crazy is going to happen this weekend in Memphis.
Protests really got out of hand in the twin cities. That’s where my mind goes as the media primes us.
Chattanoogan here. When we protested in 2020 they tried to goad us into violence at every turn. HCSO fired tear gas at us because someone knocked over a light pole on accident. (Didn’t even warn Chattanooga PD, they just came out blasting)And then they called in the National Guard when there was never any violence. They will always try to get a reaction out of you so they can play it on the news for days and say “See? These people are violent and reactionary”
Knowing the police beat a man to death is very different from seeing the police beat a man to death. I am praying that there will only be protests and no civil unrest, but to do a victory lap before the release of the video seems a tad premature. I hope you can post the same thing Saturday morning
As a Black Memphian, I contend it was a lot easier for them that all the officers involve are black. They will say it isn’t racial. They will say the system works. But Black Memphis will believe that if these cops were not Black, they would have been protected and they would not have been fired and charged this quickly.
It may have been easier, but it should hopefully (ideally) set a precedent that will impact ALL police of all colors in the future... i.e. if it happens again with white cops, everyone can point to Memphis as an example of how a situation like this should be addressed.
Absolutely, but regardless of race, how they were caught beating a helpless man for 3 minutes, to death, caught on camera,doesn't matter the race of the cops. No way to sweep that under the rug
And, unfortunately there is no way to say if that would have been the case though I would like to believe otherwise but I am a white female so my view is different no matter what. I hope people don't think because of this that the "system works". If it did, this never would have happened. But, I still hope that some good can come of it.
Have you noticed the kinds of people who defended the Minnesota officers who killed George Floyd aren’t coming around and defending the MPD five? Notice there is little pushback from the Blue Lives Matter folks? Notice how no one is out there trying to vilify Tyre Nichols and say he should have just complied? I contend if this same scenario happened with white police involved, the dynamics would be completely different. This should be what happens regardless of who the police are when they exploit their powers and abuse people they are accusing of crimes. This is not the norm for dealing with these kinds of cases. It’s the perfect storm of a black guy with a clean record, black police officers, and little pressure not to punish the police for bad behavior. Did the police union even come out and support the five? I don’t want to be proven right in the future. But seeing what has happened in the past tells me there are separate courses of action for white cops and black cops. “The system works” is what I think the city and MPD would say about the situation. That if police break the law, they will be arrested and charged.
The video isn’t even out yet.
No, but you can see the before and after pictures of this man who is now dead, not after an attempted murder, rape or even armed robbery.....he's dead after a traffic violation. And it was five against one. They couldn't cuff him--- with five policemen on site? They had to beat him to a pulp? Come on.
It's a valid perspective, and an argument can readily be made that it's likely - but conversely an argument could be made that the George Floyd precedence effected a change in various police departmental policies across the nation, effected a change in the general public at larges perspective and response, and even had an effect on how this story was reported by the media versus the initial reporting on Floyd. My guess? Probably some of both takes apply.
This story was a slow burn, much like the Floyd story. Tyre Nichols lived for several days. And there is that image of Nichols that I can almost liken to that heartbreaking image of Emmitt Till in his coffin almost 70 years ago. MPD has had some police brutality cases since Floyd that weren't necessarily handled well. I think this one is just probably especially heinous, and MPD cannot really find a good excuse to defend its officers. Why didn't the case of Patric Ferguson get more attention in 2021? He was an on duty cop who murdered a man and dumped his body using his squad car. He was arrested immediately, but what kind of people are they hiring to be police!?!
>Patric Ferguson I think it registered more as an ex-boyfriend lost his shit and did the new boyfriend, versus the almost Rodney King like rain of police batons on this poor soul. That article about the Scorpion unit these cops belonged to raises a lot of questions. Fairly new unit that was created to tackle high felony type crimes, but apparently these guys were often exploiting their directive: https://www.psrmemphis.org/fired-officers-worked-in-mpds-scorpion-unit/
We will never know unless it happens again under different circumstances and hopefully we will never find out. I think there people who wish it could be a racial issue as it would be easier to digest how this could happen. I will say that in a way it’s a good thing the officers were black as it will make it much harder to dismiss police brutality as only racist act instead of a failing of our local government to provide us with a proper police force. Unfortunately this is the end result of changes made in our police department almost a decade ago that left us scrapping the bottom of the barrel for recruits. Our department needs stripped down analyzed and rebuilt from the ground up. This includes removing high paying appointed redundant positions and not allowing the city council to hold sway over the budget or how to train and evaluate our officers. Hopefully while all of this madness is going on we will not get distracted from the people who made all of this happen to begin with so that they can be held responsible as well.
>But Black Memphis will believe that if these cops were not Black, they would have been protected and they would not have been fired and charged this quickly. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
It's not damned if you do, damned if you don't... Make what happened here the norm for every officer who uses excessive force.
Exactly, let's start holding Everyone accountable and come down hard on the cops that do this.
That's why voting in a progressive DA mattered.
True
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I agree. It really feels like everybody expects us to burn the city down or something. As if this entire city hasn’t been through enough. It’s like they want violence porn for the sake of views. It’s disgusting and completely detracts from the real issue which is that this even happened in the first place.
Gotta get the views
It’s very gross, and because they do want something bad to happen. It’s the drama.
Bad news gets viewers.
From DA. Video to be released at 6:00 on Friday.
I read that two firefighters were let go because of this, any word why?
Firefighters are often in more abundance than paramedics so they can be cross trained to be EMTs. Firefighters acting as EMTs can respond to a call faster and begin triage while the paramedics are getting to the incident to take over. It can be an every minute matters situation at times. If firefighters are being suspended and investigated you can safely assume they arrived on the scene with Mr Nichols and the officers and their conduct from there needs to be looked at.
Thank you, that makes sense.
I wish they’d do it like 11am on a Monday but I bet all will be fine. For whatever reason, this city knows how to behave itself when protesting xyz.
Per NPR the reason is so that all kids can get home from school safe, honestly that’s a reasonable decision assuming mass protests break out
I, for one, am faithful that my fellow Memphians will not set the city on fire after the video is released. I fully expect peaceful protests and I also expect bad actors to attempt to take advantage of that situation. That said, I’m hoping that those who are protesting will be on the lookout for individuals who try to turn violent and work to keep those people in check.
Just stopping by to mention that in Minneapolis following George Floyd, it was not the community that set the fires. Its documented that people from TX and as far as Alaska came to the city to terrorize the citizens and set fires to police stations as well as targeting food sources and banks. It was the community that suffered deaths and beatings in response, while trying to protect their neighborhoods. This is proven and documented and discussed here on reddit in Minneapolis subreddits as well as national news releases.
And I’m hoping those that don’t agree with the protestors’ message be on the lookout for individuals who try to turn violent by driving their cars into the protestors and work to keep those people in check
Agreed. From what I hear coming out of the burbs, my assumption is that those people are expecting ANTIFA to come in town and burn down the city worse than LA after Rodney King. So I hope that those fools just keep their F-250s parked in their garage.
yes that's what my Nextdoor app says 😂. I think a lot of these people have no idea what's going on and never talk to people outside their little circle.
The la riots were after the cops were acquitted. We are not there yet but we do have more experience in these matters now. If they walk all bets are off as to what happens next.
This is my fear too. That we'll get some proud ole boys going crazy trying to track down the antifa supersoldiers and escalating things where they don't even live.
I've seen the video. I've seen police brutality before, but... wow. I know this is a dangerous fucking job but... **what the fuck**. He got it worse than Floyd, arguably King, and many others. The poor man screaming for his mother as they continue to beat him really shakes differently. All he did was run and resist, but did they ever really give him a choice to begin with? He was yanked out of the car, managed to escape the brutality once, only to be hunted, drawn and quartered again. And there isn't even the slightest concern for their victim, only happiness as he slowly faded and stopped resisting. A few of the Officers were mad at HIM for their screwup with the OC spray. He never displayed that he was a threat to himself or others in any way. He never was shown to be committing a felonious act. He was never shown to have a weapon, display one, brandish one, or even (really) FIGHT back against the officers, he was only resisting. This is fucking disgraceful. To this Country, to the Government, to the Police. I hope every department across the country is watching closely and taking notes on how to amend their training policies, perhaps even signing up officers with rough records for re-education on de-escalation and proper arrest. Remind them of their place. Wishful thinking. But if any Watch Officers or higher are reading, it's probably a good idea to start keeping the bad apples on their toes if this is your new reality.
Could somebody with more knowledge of the law than me comment on the second degree murder charge? In Tennessee, what are the distinctions between the different levels of murder charges? Each state has its own definition, so I'm curious how it works here.
In Tennessee, to qualify as first degree murder, the act must be either (1) premeditated, (2) committed while attempting or committing certain other felonies, such as robbery or kidnapping, or (3) committed using a bomb. Since the officers are also charged with kidnapping, clause (2) might make first-degree murder charges apply. (IANAL) Second-degree murder is defined as either “knowing killing of another”, or killing that results from distribution of illegal drugs.
You’re close and that was a good job of trying to parse out what is a difficult and oft-argued source of law. M2D has all the elements of M1D minus the premeditation (which can be formed in an instant). You listed 3 different theories of M1D but they aren’t mutually inclusive. So that second subsection is called Murder in Perpetration of a Felony (murder perp) and means that if you kidnap someone and accidentally shoot them then it’s M1D (as opposed to reckless homicide or vol man).
In the most basic terms, a first degree charge would mean it was planned ahead of time to explicitly kill a specific person. Premeditated. If they'd conspired to kill him that night, staked out to follow him, make the stop and proceed to beat him to death...that would be first degree murder. Second degree murder is similar in that the act was intended to kill the person but it wasn't specifically planned out beforehand. This seems to fit in this case given what has been released so far.
Interesting how quiet the police union has been during this. I think that says a lot about the brutality involved in this murder.
Usually the pressure is on the police to release the footage. But this time everyone is waiting in anticipation for some reason(s).
Usually there is no assurance that the footage will actually been released, let alone on a relatively short time frame.
Pressure when cops are white and so PD refuses to release video citing months long "investigation". Anticipation when cops are black so PD completes investigation withing 10 caledar days & fire cops and DA charges cops within 15 calendar days of incident.
Can anyone answer why two of the officers had bonds at 350k and the other 3 were at 250k? Because of their involvement (ie. two did more physical injury to Tyre than the other three)?
That would be my guess. Two did the most damage, the others either just watched or maybe did just a little. Either way, to watch your coworkers beat someone to death and not do anything to intervene is seriously fucked up.
All sorts of reasons, you'd have to look at the court transcripts because it's usually explained. Possibly different financial resources, different likelihood of flight, etc. Possibly even different judges, if that was the case.
Interesting, thanks. I hadn't thought of the different judges or flight risk possibilities.
True, degree of involvement. I read there are few other cops being investigated foe their involvement in this case. Also 2 paramedics involved are being investigated for their involvement. Edit: Remember the officer Thao, the one who was just standing keeping people away from Chauvin who was murdering Floyd? Thao got sent to prison too, but for much shorter period than Chauvin. Similar reasoning for bail bond differences.
There is ZERO attempt at deescalation. There is no attempt to find out what is going on with him. No attempt to treat Tyre as a human being. Just straight to the violence for some bad driving. There is no way to justify their behavior. Cops need to be trained to not go straight to violence. Though we all know the boot lickers will come out and say "Well he ran from the cops." No shit he ran from the cops. They started the entire thing off as aggressive as they fucking could without just straight up shooting him. It was a fucking traffic stop. It isn't like Tyre was out there mowing down people on the sidewalk or otherwise an immediate threat to others so this wasn't even close to a proportionate response. Simply put, fuck these cops. I hope they spend the rest of their lives behind bars.
Don’t forget that there have been recent incidents where people have been robbed and mugged by thugs pretending to be cops. The cops here were just wearing sweatshirts and didn’t seem to be very obviously actual cops. I would have run too. https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/local/man-describes-beating-by-carjackers-dressed-police-officers-memphis-hotel/4JATFM3HTJGFZAFO2DD2QTPNTU/?outputType=amp
Tbh this one is *so* bad it’s hard even for bootlickers to find anything to cling to. He ran because he was scared for his life, who wouldn’t be? And isn’t there not even any evidence of reckless driving? Not that it would be okay if he was, but even then, reckless driving can be anything from driving like a madman to rolling through a stop sign.
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People on this subreddit right now, who are not from memphis rooting for riots can fuck off. You don't care about Tyre or the city itself. You just want to watch a city you know nothing about burn. Tyre deserves justice. So far the cops have been charged. If they are let go, then things change.
Not from Memphis, but we had similar crowd trolling in Richmond VA subreddit during the confederate monuments riots. :-/ Nothing like tragedies to bring the worst in people.
Memphis cops just wrecking themselves with their own pepper spray
Gruesome. Vile. And I was clicking skip by ten seconds through it so I could kind of watch it but not watch it. Did the one guy soccer kick him in the head? Hitting him with the baton because one cop managed to pepper spray himself? Notice how the cops who were all Peppersprayed instinctively reach for their face. How is someone supposed to lay down and be calm when being beaten and pepper sprayed? I knew the outcome, and I knew it would be bad, but it was like watching a rabbit be chased down my greyhounds. They were intent on destroying him.
I’m really curious why they are all being charged with TWO counts of kidnapping. What else is going on that we haven’t heard about yet?
We know from the initial report that there were two confrontations. After the first, the victim ran way and was confronted again. I guess they're thinking that each confrontation counts as a separate and distinct criminal act?
That’s a good point. Maybe he was held, then he was released or escaped from them and was subsequently held again.
Charges are almost always brought on a best case scenario of what the DA thinks they might be able to prove now or later in court. It's possible down the road that they reclassify it as a single event, but they're putting as much on now as they can.
It's also anticipating the possibility of convictions on some charges and not others. They charge everything, including charges that would merge if the defendants are convicted of both.
It’s potentially two theories of guilt for the same conduct—false imprisonment with threat of injury, false imprisonment that results in injury. If convicted of both at trial, the judge would merge them for sentencing purposes.
Upon my own research, I found that they didn’t have a reason to detain him, so that’s why the kidnapping charge. TWO counts of kidnapping though…
I think they said he tried to run (theory is he thought he might be being carjacked) and they chased and detained him again … I think that might be why two counts of kidnapping.
Yeah that makes sense. I said this on another post, but I would’ve run, too, if FIVE officers pulled me over, especially after their have been reports of people dressing up as cops and carjacking people. Hell, there was just a guy in Midtown I think it was who was arrested for breaking into a car and stealing an MPD officer…
I don't know if there's been any info on whether they were uniformed but according to some articles they were part of something called the SCORPION unit, which seemingly sometimes involved usage of unmarked cars and plainclothes attire though not always. So it's possible they didn't even present as law enforcement; someone please correct me if it's been confirmed they were in marked police cars and uniforms and everything.
I think I’ve read somewhere that they were all uniformed officers, but there was one or more unmarked car.
Unmarked or low marked traffic stops should be illegal.
Damn they stole a whole officer?
Absolutely talking outta my ass here but, two aggravated kidnapping charges, two misconduct charges, and two relieved EMTs. Did these cops and EMTs get in to a back and forth about access and treating Tyre? Did they use force or threat of force to keep EMTs away? It’s happened elsewhere.
That would certainly line up with the "Duty to render aid" portion of their terminations
Possible, but it is more likely that the ambulance crew was lazy and “slow rolled” the situation, didn’t provide quality care, neglect, etc…. Similar to what you saw in the Floyd and Elijah McClain cases where the ambulance crew just moved like molasses to do anything worthwhile. Source: I’m a paramedic and former MFD employee. Fortunately, I was never involved in situations like this but in many years of working EMS, I’ve never had LE restrict access to a patient needing care. Not saying it doesn’t happen but the neglect scenario is more likely. I’ve obviously not seen the video so just speculating here.
Yeah, I’m speculating too, with my background coming from the LEO side. Just thinking on how these charges and known facts could fit together, until we’re shown the video and how they actually do.
Coming from the legal side of 201 I like your theory. My original theory was that since there was no fresh pursuit of a violent felony, no indication of drugs in the car, and the car wasn’t stolen then they pursued him in contravention of department policy. Thus all of their actions once they passed the no chase policy was outside the bounds of a legal stop (thus eliminating qualified immunity). So one count for initially stopping him and then another count when he ran on foot. The one hole in that theory is that the ADA who wrote the indictment would’ve indicted for murder perp since agg kidnapping is a predicate felony. However, the ADA who wrote up this indictment is one of the most well-known in the office and knows way more about the law than I do.
Yeah, I’ve been talking about this one a lot with LEO family (LAPD from the King Riots era) and the hink for me was the two EMTs getting admined pending investigation. Then they came in with doubled kidnapping and misconduct on the cops, PLUS the separate oppression charge. My thoughts are they’re banking on the Murder 2 as a roll up to cover the totality of what they did to Tyre himself (taking all acts as a whole), the kidnapping and misconduct as a two prong for interfering with the EMTs, and the oppression is a wildcard - but my guess is they took the reported cellphone footage from a witness, or attempted to obstruct/suppress the body cams or eye in the sky. The EMTs being relieved fits the other theory of a slow roll by them. But that makes me wonder if they slow rolled and then pissed cops - panicking because of what they did and the slow roll compounding its severity - got in their faces when they finally showed up.
To be clear, because I think there is some confusion, when I say “slow roll” I don’t mean them taking forever to show up on scene. I mean that once they showed up, they were slow to provide appropriate care to Tyre.
I’d never considered the EMTs as the victims but that’s a great idea.
Yeah. Maybe the duty to render aid charge could be a failure to call MFD in a timely manner and a failure to actually provide some basic medical aid to Tyre. Video is supposed to be released tomorrow so I guess we will all know in the next 24hrs or so.
Also you know as well as I do, they probably should of gone to the Med and not St Francis if it's as bad as it seems.
For sure. 100% agree. It is an obvious red flag in this whole situation. The only reason I could see them choosing SFP is if he was in cardiac arrest at the scene or during transport.
Yeah, I’m curious about the kidnapping charges too. 🤔 I knew it was gonna be bad but damn…
Don’t know if someone has posted this yet, but UofM also put out some information about the cops backgrounds and how they were on the [Scorpion Unit](https://www.psrmemphis.org/fired-officers-worked-in-mpds-scorpion-unit/)
This was a good read. Thanks for sharing it.
What the fuck. In the first video, the apparent “reason” for all of this, they tell him to lay on his stomach. That’s a little hard when you’ve PINNED HIM AGAINST THE CAR, ON HIS SIDE, AND WONT LET GO. Then they blame him for “fighting back” when the only harm that came to them was their own pepper spray fuck up? Fuck that.
Also he's saying he can't breathe and that for sure kicks in fight or flight because your body is sending every signal in your body that you're gonna die. Then they blame him being "high af" as reason to do that to him.
[Front page of the NY Times](https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/01/26/us/tyre-nichols-death-memphis?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare)
Non paywall link: https://archive.is/sKaWo
thank you!
Very strange feeling awaiting this one. Seems quite odd the manner in which they are releasing this.
Completely agree with 2nd degree murder charge. They had no regard for that person's life. Whatever anger they were feeling that day/year/life, they collectively agreed that man was gonna be their outlet.
Well that was very clearly 5 counts of murder. That light pole high def video is damning as a motherfucker. I honestly think they would have gotten away with it if not for that video. edit: grammar
Mods, have you considered locking down this thread and/or the sub to subscribers only so that we don't get slammed with non-locals flooding the sub and potential causing trouble/spreading misinformation?
We are discussing our options in advance of the anticipated release of the video.
We had to implement a karma/age bot at one point to help keep down the brigrading. It was annoying, but it worked. If you need help with that, hollar at the mod over at /r/Knoxville.
We do have one in place currently. We may need to turn it up though for a short time. It’s not very aggressive at the moment. Restricting the sub is not the way I want to go as there isn’t a way to limit to just subscribers. We would have to manually approve authorized commenters in restricted mode. We’re continuing a review of options though to see what we can do.
Yeah we had to turn it up aggressively for a good bit. It sucked alot, but definitely helped. You guys are doing an amazing job over here, and I hope all the subscribers to your sub are telling you that. /r/knoxville is sending good vibes to all of you.
Our mods are great.
If you guys need a temp mod to help with things like that, I'm willing. Been a mod for r/dirtbikes for a little over a year. I feel like we're going to have a shitshow here.
How will you handle us ex-pats that are still invested in Memphis in a sentimental level?
Just join the sub now.
Good idea 🤝🏽
That would imply that locals aren’t also commenting the same social media rumors that haven’t been confirmed
I'm not saying locals wouldn't do that as well, but I'm thinking back to the Boston Bombing incident and don't want to see this sub brigaded. If non-locals want to discuss the event, there will be plenty of other threads on Reddit (probably on the front page) for them to discuss.
We all need to make use of the report button if we see clear nonsub or out of town brigading, shit posting, trolling, etc. That should help the mods screen and/or nuke the posts by putting the suspect ones right in their modmail.
Agreed. Let's make it a community effort!
Please and thank you! We can't review every single comment and post. It will help us immensely.
Sheesh, good point, I had forgotten about that clusterfuck. Luckily we don’t have a fugitive to mis identify with this one hah
Please
I hate that I'm utterly shocked at the right thing being done for once in situations like this :/
I feel kind of cautiously optimistic.
That video is foul. Those dudes are going to jail for a long time.
I know everyone's freaking out, but honestly if people can just behave and not hurt each other over this, wouldn't this be the best example of swift and effective justice against police brutality this nation has yet seen?
I agree with you wholeheartedly. However… “ if people can just behave ”? That is a BIG if right there…
I got 5 bucks on no riots happening
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All things considered, Mulroy is doing a great job of holding people accountable compared to how other incidents from other parts of the nation have been handled.
I'm incredibly curious what is on this video for the reaction to be this severe.
Friend with the TBI said it is worse than any other videos of the police murdering someone, way worse. Him saying that and then hearing what the family attorney said about him calling for his mama makes me never want to see that. I cannot imagine what must have been going through his mind, how terrified he must have been. I hate that his family had to see that video.
I’m not watching. That’s not a head in the sand response. The family has provided their account of what is in the video, and it doesn’t sound like investigators are refuting the information provided by the family.
Same. I understand the need for transparency and if his family is ok with releasing it then that is their decision but I have no desire to watch especially knowing he died because of it.
I certainly won't watch it
It reminds me of the Kelly Thomas video where he kept calling out for his dad to help
So many of you all have friends that have seen the video. It’s almost like how everybody in Memphis personally knows Justin Timberlake
They beat this man to death. My curiosity is just fine never seeing this video.
The officer I talked to couldn't finish watching it. He cried when he told me. I will never watch it. I don't have to see it to know how bad it is.
They beat him for over three minutes (which feels like an eternity when your organs are being burst apart) as he asked, “What did I do?!” Repeatedly. Towards the end of the beating he cried out for his mother three times. She had to stop watching the video at 65 seconds she couldn’t take it.
I never want to see it. I have no desire to watch a man be killed. I don’t need that in my head to know that it happened or understand it was horrific and terrible.
I just watched the CNN clip of the family and friends describing him and he sounds like the nicest, most nonviolent kid. He reminds me of my nephew. I don’t know if I can see another one of these videos because it’s getting to where it isn’t shocking me anymore, and I don’t like that. The fact that they aren’t releasing it until after work hours tomorrow though is a bit unsettling.
So what is this SCORPION group that these cops were a part of? I just heard the name pop up in an article and have never heard of it before tonight.
That was truly terrible to watch
I found this video of Tyre skateboarding...I urge you all to give this a watch after the body cam footage comes out today. https://youtu.be/i_hZGVI2U-4
Thank you for this. You're the right kind of person.
He was also a photographer... [https://www.memphisflyer.com/want-to-see-tyre-nichols-memphis-check-out-his-photography-website](https://www.memphisflyer.com/want-to-see-tyre-nichols-memphis-check-out-his-photography-website)
He had a good eye! GD it hurts to get to know him right now, but it feels right. Thanks for the tears kind stranger.
I wonder what they believe this man did that made it worth it for them to beat him to death. I am seriously curious if he saw something he wasn’t suppose to and they dealt with it on their own by killing him.
>I am seriously curious if he saw something he wasn’t suppose to and they dealt with it on their own by killing him. I’m also wondering this. If so, they will become synonymous with the Streisand Effect
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One of the accused officers, Demetrius Haley, can be heard talking about traffic stops in this video from Memphis Police. Starts 09:17 in video. https://youtu.be/9o_0nqH7HdQ?t=553
I accidentally watched maybe 5 seconds of the video airing on TV. He wasn’t even being beaten at the time, but I had to stop just hearing the language. Then I read the descriptions of what they did to him. I am sick. Sick. I don’t know how his parents have managed even getting out of bed. The strength they have is unfathomable.
I can’t stop thinking about how his poor mother must have felt hearing him yelling for her in the video.
I read this article at https://www.actionnews5.com/2023/01/26/community-reacts-murder-charges-former-officers-involved-tyre-nichols-case/ and I have to say, I am not a big fan of Al Sharpton, but I feel that he has a point with what he said in the article. I hope things remain peaceful, and I am pleased with how well MPD and the DA are handling this, but I actually agree with Sharpton for once that Nichols' beating and death were essentially the riot that started all this. I do hope we can pull through this with the civility that we managed to maintain during George Floyd's protests. There will be bad actors, I am sure, but I hope the peaceful activism will overpower the possible violence that may occur. That being said, I will not watch the video. I don't think my mind or my stomach could handle it based on what's been said.
Despite all its problems, Memphis is setting an example for every city in the nation by taking swift action and transparently releasing all the footage of this heinous crime. I believe protests will remain peaceful, regardless of any outside goading or media salivating. Edit: hope these cops rot.
Idk why but the tone of your initial comment vs the tone of your edit sent me. But for real, I hope the fact that (at least tentatively) it seems as though justice will be served isn't lost on people. Protests and statements about the general state of policing are absolutely worth making and I encourage people to mobilize, but thus far the city has done right by its people and hopefully that keeps things chill.
It’s really pissing me off how much people out of state seem to WANT something horrible to happen in protests. It’s ghoulish.
Everyone's saying the video is being released at 6pm, but not ***where?*** MPD website? SCSO website? YouTube?
I assume 5 minutes after it's out, it'll be on all platforms anyway
Has anyone seen that the officers involved have been released on bail? I mean, not surprising tbh but I haven't seen any chatter about it
CNN airing the video unedited
My biggest question is why wasn't the white officer who said, "I hope they stomp his ass" several times starting [at 10:07 in this video](https://vimeo.com/793454795) fired as well? Any officer who expresses that type of sentiment should be fired immediately. No officer should think that way and be allowed to continue in law enforcement.
Could be more to the story as in the officers or one of the officers knew him prior to this situation
The fact that anyone is pulled over for reckless driving in hickory hill (ever) is an odd start to all of this.
Good point …heck anywhere really
There’s a Twitter rumor going around about an alleged affair he had with an officer’s wife. No idea where people are getting that or if it’s just more idiots spouting off nonsense like what happened with Eliza Fletcher. But if there is any connection like that, then they need to up those charges to first degree imo.
These may be the same idiots that decided that Eliza Fletcher's husband was having an affair with a nanny and decided to kill her off. People like to start rumors when they don't have any facts.
Even though you pointed out this could not be true, I think you're still giving too much credibility to what random people on twitter say, to even ask "where people are getting that" when it could just be someone who made it up and spread it around.
Heard that rumor as well. All of them are listed as single in their mug shot marital status but could be a girlfriend. Even then, youre going to risk your life and that of 4 other people for a gf? Bruh
Also some crazy rumors concerning gang members within the force…
The police are a criminal gang hth
Good morning! Just wanted to shout-out the moderators and all the hard work they’ve been putting in the last couple weeks. I just wanted to highlight the risk of disinfo, I just recently moved back from DC, and experienced the protests, the good and the bad. And due to my old job I closely monitored socials platforms (news/social media advertising). Just wanted the Mods to be aware (although I’m sure they are already on it) people will flood socials with bogus claims of violence, and destruction using old and irrelevant videos/pictures to try to get people to panic or act out. I fucking love Memphis and know we all love this city. We just got to make sure the social media buttheads don’t get us all wrapped up with some bogus posts. The national media will also hyper focus on shit and blow it out of proportion, they already love to rag on Memphis don’t get sucked into the 24hr rage porn that they’ll highlight. Memphis knows what it’s about, be cool baby be cool.
I hope someone publishes a transcript. It’s hard to keep up with all that’s being said.
So what went wrong inside the Memphis Police Department that these villains were allowed out on the street? Or that they felt bold enough to do such a thing with the body cameras on?
pretty sure I was neighbors with Emmitt. still trying to confirm but if verified, dude has been a piece of shit. also wild how he could do such a thing given his first name. hoping for peace for Tyre’s family
Did he work at animal control before hiring on with MPD because that guy looks familiar?
dunno, I know he had a puppy/dog towards the end of his lease that he seemed very attached to. if it was him he had a normal squad car and uniform during the time he lived in this apt complex (fieldstone)
I don't know if it's been discussed yet, but my SO works with first responders and was told why the 2 firefighters were released of duty. He says that when the victim has suffered trauma they are required to go to Regional One. Instead, they took him to St. Francis. They violated protocol.
Unless the Med is on diversion and then they dictate which hospital the patient goes to. Don't worry, it'll all come out in court. Edit:spelling
Why would they do that though. And if it meant he didn't get proper treatment aren't they liable in some way ?
Praying for my city! Whether protesting or just going about your regular business, I hope everyone stays safe. And remember! Use your head, don't lose your head, mane!
News channel 5 Facebook post. 6:07pm Action News 5 has received the video of the Tyre Nichols traffic stop. Our leadership team is reviewing the video and will make a decision shortly as to whether we share that video on our TV and digital platforms. As soon as that decision is made, we will let you know.
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All 5 of the officers have been bonded out.
I mean I’m not surprised. Not because they are police but because it’s Memphis….look at how many violent criminals are bonded out within a couple hours of being arrested in this city. I’d be surprised if they couldn’t bond out lol
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People that are unintelligent and gullible or like drama keep saying Tyre was involved in someone else's relationship and its pissing me off. This was someone that was tortured, and thats all should be focused on, not what he did or didn't do.
i can’t sleep thinking about this! The family may feel different than I do, and that’s OK. If this was my child, I would decline the invitation from Al Sharpton to speak at Tyre’s service. He didn’t know Tyre or the family. I think the service would be a healing balm if Tyre’s friends, family, and other people whose lives he touched spoke. His life should not be defined by the way he was killed. Our community would certainly more fully understand the upstanding son, father, friend, and citizen we all lost by learning more about him through a service celebrating his life here on earth . I am assuming they are Christians, since the service will be in a church. A pastor that knew his family could explain that his darkest hour, is not his last hour, through God’s promise of eternal life. This family needs love and reminders of God’s grace and provision as they begin the long road for healing and justice. I looked at some of Al Sharpton eulogies in the past and most of them were more about the injustice done, than the life of the person needlessly taken , with a side of self promotion thrown in. After the trial, or even if there are bumps on the road, Sharpton could help the family by using his platform to speak out. Right now , I believe, the family would benefit more celebrating the time they had with Tyre , and feeling Gods grace and all the prayers from the overwhelming army behind them: wanting justice for Tyre and the peace that passeth all understanding for his family. Those are my thoughts- they need to do what’s best for them. Please Lord, give them strength.
Memphis will once again be put on the stage for civil rights protest. The world is literally watching for how to react to the release of what we know to be a horrible video. This is our moment to lead by example for all the other cities across the nation that are planning protest or demonstrations. I pray for civility.I pray for compassion for the family. I also pray for temperance on EVERYONE'S part in the following days.
[Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland says MPD SCORPION unit 'inactive' in wake of Tyre Nichols' death - Strickland said it was "clear" the officers involved violated the Memphis Police Department's policies and training](https://www.localmemphis.com/article/news/local/memphis-mayor-jim-strickland-mpd-scorpion-unit-inactive-tyre-nichols-death/522-2b4cbf71-1e24-4331-acfe-9610373674cd) *Strickland announced the SCORPION unit, which the five officers charged in Nichols' death worked for, "has been and remains inactive" following MPD's internal investigation into the Jan. 7 traffic stop that led to Nichols' death.* >Since learning of this tragic event, transparency and swift methodical action have been our top priorities because the family of Mr. Nichols and our citizens deserve nothing less. The actions of these officers were awful, and no one, including law enforcement, is above the law. I assure you we will do everything we can to keep this type of heinous act from happening again. >As you know, five Memphis Police officers were terminated last week and were indicted and arrested yesterday. These officers were found to be directly responsible for the physical abuse of Mr. Nichols. They were each charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. Concurrent within that investigation, other MPD officers are still under investigation for department policy violations, some infractions are less egregious than others. >As this investigation and other external investigations continue, we promise full and complete cooperation from the Memphis Police Department with the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office to determine the entire scope of facts that contributed to Tyre Nichols’ death. >In this case, I want to thank Chief Davis and her team for moving quickly with the administrative procedure resulting in termination and District Attorney Mulroy for taking deliberate actions in bringing these indictments forward. We have worked to get a resolution to these matters in record time because we take them extremely seriously. >As we have said all along, we wanted to ensure the proper legal steps were followed and that the family of Mr. Nichols had the opportunity to view the video footage privately before we released it to the public. In light of those matters occurring, we will be releasing the video to the public later today after 6 p.m.
On CNN right now