Memphis officials released 21 additional hours of footage from the night the police beat 29-year-old Tyre Nichols. The additional footage was released on Jan. 30 and includes body-camera footage as well as audio and surveillance video from the fatal beating.
Nichols died on Jan. 10, 2023, three days after he was severely beaten and shocked by Tasers wielded by five members of the Memphis Police Department on Jan. 7, 2023. Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills and Justin Smith beat, tasered and pepper-sprayed the FedEx worker after allegedly pulling him over for reckless driving. The men were part of the now-disbanded MPD SCORPION unit. The New York Times reports the police found no evidence of Nichols speeding or driving recklessly.
Initial footage released of the beating showed Nichols crying for his mother as he was mercilessly beaten by the five men and complying with their commands. At one point, Nichols ran for his life but was chased down by the officers.
Forty-four recordings were released in the latest footage, and the officers tried to excuse their actions while blaming the 29-year-old as he sat handcuffed and slumped up against a police vehicle with blood running out of his mouth. One of the officers is heard saying that Nichols must have been on something due to the alleged strength he had after being stunned with a Taser.
However, Nichols had no drugs in his system and only had a blood alcohol level of .049 percent, which is well under the legal limit in the state.
“That man got tased with the prongs running down the f—king wrong street,” said one officer. “He on something bad. We lit him up, he didn’t want to stop. We did what we did. … I’m talking ’bout take folks out, all out in incoming traffic and everything.”
The officer also claimed Nichols was strong and grabbed for one of the officer’s guns at the scene. “He reached for Martin’s gun and slammed him to the…
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