Officers laid the blame on Tyre Nichols, but video shows a fatal beatdown they largely omitted
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Tyre Nichols screamed for his mother while Memphis police beat him after a traffic stop on Jan. 7, 2023, about a block from where he lived with his parents. The 29-year-old died in a hospital three days later.
In an analysis of what the officers claimed happened on that night, The Associated Press sifted through hundreds of pages of evidence and hours of video from the scene, including officer body cameras. The cameras showed a starkly different scene to that described by the officers.
More than a year and a half after Nichols’ death, three former officers are facing a federal criminal trial over the deadly pummeling. That’s in addition to allegations that they offered essentially no help as he slumped on a patrol car and onto the pavement, and claims that they lied or left out critical information to protect themselves from repercussions.
Two other former officers have pleaded guilty and could testify against the remaining three.
The trial will heighten attention on a case that sparked outrage around the world and intensified calls for police reform in the city and the U.S. as a whole.
The three officers have also been charged with second-degree murder in state court, where the other two former officers, Desmond Mills and Emmitt Martin, plan to plead guilty, like they have in federal court. The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the Memphis Police Department and Nichols’ family has sued the city over his death.
Here is an analysis of how the officers’ claims in reports at the time stack up with what video footage shows during four key moments.
Claims of resistance
Memphis police officers Demetrius Haley, Preston Hemphill and Martin were the first three to encounter Nichols after pulling him over for what they said was reckless driving.
Haley wrote in his response to resistance form that Nichols “ignored all directives” to get out of the car. He wrote Nichols was “swinging his arms” and cursing at the officers. Martin’s report claimed Nichols was reaching for one of the officers’ guns.
Footage from police body-worn camera shows the officers immediately yanked Nichols from the vehicle. The officers are swearing, shouting and threatening to shock Nichols with a Taser.
The video shows Nichols being forced onto his knees, while he tries to calmly tell the officers, “I am on the ground.” Nichols is then physically overpowered by the three officers who are using a Taser and pepper spray on him.
‘Soft hands’ versus excessive force
Additional Memphis officers Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith joined the fray after Nichols fled and was caught just blocks from his parents’ home.
Haley, Bean and Smith all described in their response to resistance forms that the officers used “soft hands” techniques to subdue Nichols — Haley during the traffic stop, and Bean and Smith at the scene of the beating.
“Soft hands” is a technique described in Memphis police guidelines as “escort controls, touch pressure points, wrist or arm locks and take down techniques that have a minimum chance of injury.”
The incident report only mentions that officers used chemical agents and a baton against Nichols, omitting the kicks, punches and slaps while his arms were held or restrained.
Multiple videos show an almost three-minute barrage of fists, feet and baton strikes to Nichols’ face, head, front and back as officers restrain him.
A charge of ‘deliberate indifference’
Bean, Haley and Smith are charged with acting with “deliberate indifference” while Nichols was on the ground, struggling with his injuries. The indictment, which lodges a number of charges, says the officers “willfully” disregarded Nichols’ medical needs by failing to give him medical care and not telling a police dispatcher and emergency medical personnel that Nichols had been hit repeatedly.
Bean, Haley and Smith have pleaded not guilty.
Smith’s body-worn camera captured him and another officer exchanging a high five steps away from Nichols. On the aerial video, two officers are seen fist-bumping each other.
Meanwhile, Nichols appears to be falling out of consciousness, slumping over and not responding when officers try to pull him upright again.
On body-worn camera from Bean, the officers brag about the assault and laugh, and they speculate that Nichols is high. Nichols’ autopsy later detected only low levels of alcohol and THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, in his system.
Mother’s questions unanswered
On Mills’ body camera, Lt. Dewayne Smith and Mills go to Nichols’ home where he lives with his parents, just blocks from where he is laying bleeding. His parents ask what Nichols is in custody for.
Lt. Smith tells them he was arrested for a DUI and that Nichols was “intoxicated.”
In another interaction, Hemphill tells Nichols’ mother that he fought with officers and another officer tells her that he had “unbelievable strength.” Smith, the former lieutenant, resigned in lieu of being fired, and Hemphill was fired. Neither face criminal charges.
Hemphill later talks to Nichols’ parents at the scene of the initial traffic stop, where his mother, RowVaughn Wells, shares comments of disbelief.
“My son? My son? Not Tyre,” Wells said.
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Mattise reported from Nashville, Tennessee.