The federal trial of three former Memphis police officers charged in the killing of Tyre Nichols begins on Monday.
Ex-officers Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith Jr, and Demetrius Haley will stand trial for federal civil rights and conspiracy charges in connection to Nichols’s death, according to an announcement from the Department of Justice last year.
Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, was stopped by officers for an alleged traffic violation while driving home from work on 7 January 2023. After being pulled from his car, Nichols was brutally beaten by the officers, in an assault that was caught on video and later released to the public. Nichols died from his injuries three days after the attack. His death sparked national outrage, as demonstrators across the country called for a prompt investigation and denounced police brutality.
Two other former officers were also charged in the original federal indictment, but have since pleaded guilty.
Emmitt Martin III pleaded guilty to federal witness tampering and excessive force charges last month. Prosecutors will request a prison sentence of no more than 40 years at Martin’s 5 December sentencing, according to his plea deal. Desmond Mills Jr pleaded guilty to federal excessive force and obstruction charges. In line with Mills’s plea deal, prosecutors will recommend a 15-year prison sentence.
In addition to federal charges, the five police officers, who are all Black, are still facing multiple state felonies, including second-degree murder charges, the New York Times reported.
Preston Hemphill, a white police officer who deployed his Taser during Nichols’s traffic stop, will not face criminal charges.
“By no means do we endorse the conduct of Hemphill at the stop involving Tyre Nichols,” said the Shelby county district attorney, Steve Mulroy, who is prosecuting the Nichols case, in a news release last year, CNN reported. “In this case, Hemphill did not pursue Tyre Nichols and never left the initial scene.”
Hemphill was fired from the Memphis police department following an investigation.
Nichols’s family is also suing the city of Memphis and Memphis police department, with the civil suit expected to go to trial in 2025.
During the traffic stop, several police officers approached Nichols with their firearms out and pulled Nichols from his car. Officers also shocked Nichols with a Taser and pepper-sprayed him.
Nichols then attempted to run towards his house, as officers chased him and later caught up to him. According to video footage, officers began to beat Nichols with a baton, punch him in the face, and kick him, despite Nichols screaming that he was in pain and pleading to be released.
Twenty minutes after being beaten, Nichols was transported to an area hospital where he later died.
An autopsy report revealed that he died of blunt force trauma to his head.
Several first responders, including other Memphis police officers and paramedics, were fired after an investigation into Nichols’s death.
The justice department announced in July that it would be investigating the city of Memphis and the Memphis police department to determine if there are patterns of discriminatory policing.
Footage of the brutal beating, which was published a day after officers were charged with murder, showed the graphic nature of the attack and gave additional insight into the role of officers involved in Nichols’s death.
Davis described the footage as “perhaps worse” than the infamous 1991 video of Rodney King, a Black man, being beaten by Los Angeles police officers.
