A Memphis police report into the traffic stop of Tyre Nichols portrays him as violent and aggressive and states that he tried to grab an officer’s gun, allegations that are contradicted by multiple videos released by authorities.
NBC News has obtained the contents of the report, which has not been made public. A Memphis police spokesperson on Wednesday said it was unavailable and did not respond to additional questions about the report.
A Shelby County spokesperson said that District Attorney Steve Mulroy has a report with the same account of events and that the Memphis Police Department is expected to release the official report within days.
The district attorney’s spokesperson said there have been questions of other officers on the scene and the potential of false reporting, and that the DA is looking into all of these matters.
Nichols, a 29-year-old amateur photographer and skateboarder, died three days after he was brutally beaten by officers during a Jan. 7 traffic stop.
Five fired Memphis police officers have been charged with second-degree murder and their Scorpion unit has been permanently deactivated. Two other Memphis police officers have also been relieved of duty, and the Memphis Fire Department terminated three EMTs since the assault on Nichols.
The report does not mention that officers kicked and punched repeatedly, actions of the encounter that can be seen on video released by Memphis last week.
‘Tyre Nichols grabbed for Detective Martin’s gun’
The police report, which appears to have been written about eight hours after the traffic stop, says Nichols was pulled over for reckless driving.
He was driving fast and the car was headed into oncoming traffic, the report said. A detective asked Nichols to get out of the vehicle, according to the report, but he was uncooperative.
“Suspect Tyre Nichols was refusing a lawful detention by a law enforcement officers and he started to fight with detectives. Detectives noticed that the suspect Tyre Nichols…
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