Cops never told Tyre Nichols why he was stopped in fatal traffic arrest
The Memphis officer who pulled over Tyre Nichols before he was fatally beaten by police never explained the reason for the traffic stop, newly released documents show.
The police department condemned the “blatantly unprofessional” behavior five of its officers displayed during the fatal Jan. 7 traffic stop and asked that they never be permitted to work in law enforcement again, according to documents released Tuesday by the Tennessee Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission.
Former officer Demetrius Haley was driving an unmarked car and wearing a black hoodie when he pulled Nichols over for a routine traffic stop last month, the records show. He and another officer had their guns drawn when they ripped Nichols from his car.
Later, they claimed they pulled Nichols over for reckless driving, but they never communicated that to him.
“You never told the driver the purpose of the vehicle stop or that he was under arrest,” the documents state.
Haley did not have his body camera turned on when he stopped Nichols. All five cops charged with murder violated bodycam rules by either not running their cameras through the entire attack or taking off their vests with cameras attached, the documents said.
During the assault, Haley sprayed Nichols in the eyes with a chemical irritant and kicked him in the toro as three other officers were handcuffing him, the documents say. Other officers kicked Nichols in the face, punched him or struck him with a baton.
Haley also took two photographs on his cellphone of a bloodied and handcuffed Nichols while he was propped against a car as he was unable to sit up on his own. He sent them to six different people — two fellow cops, a civilian employee of the police department and a female acquaintance.
Nichols succumbed to his severe injuries three days after the barbaric attack.
Haley and four other officers — Desmond Mills Jr., Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith and Emmitt Martin III — have been fired and charged with second-degree murder.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis has requested that the five officers be prohibited from ever working in law enforcement again.
According to the documents, each of them failed to provide aid to Nichols after they relentlessly beat him. An unreleased video taken by a bystander highlights Bean’s indifference to Nichols’ distress, the report states.
Several of the officers were also found to have lied about the reason they attacked Nichols so savagely.
Martin claimed Nichols tried to snatch an officer’s gun from its holster after Haley forced him out of the vehicle, with Martin helping by grabbing Nichols’ wrist, but video proves Nichols made no such move.
Smith claimed Nichols was “violent and would not comply,” but footage showed Nichols was polite and did not use the profanity officers accused him of making.
A sixth officer, who wasn’t involved in the beating but fired a Taser at Nichols, was also suspended. He was recorded on bodycam footage saying, “I hope they stomp his ass” in reference to Nichols.
Six other cops may also be disciplined, which would bring the total involved to 13.
Three members of the Memphis Fire Department were also terminated for failing to adequately assess Nichols’ condition after arriving at the scene.
With Post wires
