TN: Tyre Nichols was 'defenseless' during his 'savage' beating by police, attorneys say

Curious how many officers are in the Scorpion Unit?

"Memphis police disband unit that beat Tyre Nichols"

urce: AP

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The Memphis police chief on Saturday disbanded the unit whose officers beat to death Tyre Nichols as the nation and the city struggled to come to grips with video showing police pummeling the Black motorist. Police Director Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said she listened to Nichols’ relatives, community leaders and uninvolved officers in making the decision.

“It is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate the Scorpion unit,” she said in a statement. She said the officers currently assigned to the unit “agree unreservedly” with the step. The footage released Friday left many unanswered questions about the traffic stop involving the Black motorist and about other law enforcement officers who stood by as he lay motionless on the pavement.

The five disgraced former Memphis Police Department officers, who are also Black, have been fired and charged with murder and other crimes in Nichols’ death three days after the arrest.

The recording shows police savagely beating Nichols, a 29-year-old FedEx worker, for three minutes while screaming profanities at him in an assault that the Nichols family legal team has likened to the infamous 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King. Nichols calls out for his mother before his limp body is propped against a squad car and the officers exchange fist-bumps. The five officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith — face up to 60 years in prison if convicted of second-degree murder."

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/politics...7086250d5d6da35?taid=63d5983a3243920001326d39

 

'What is the SCORPION unit, the Memphis police task force at the center of Tyre Nichols’ death?'

"Five officers assigned to the unit have been charged in Nichols' death."

The Memphis Police Department unit at the center of Tyre Nichols' death earlier this month has now come under scrutiny from critics over its approach to fighting crime.

The SCORPION unit, which stands for Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods, was announced in October 2021 and launched a month later. It encompasses 40 officers split into four teams who patrol "high crime hotspots" throughout the city, the police department announced in November 2021.

MPD Assistant Chief Sean Jones told reporters during the launch that SCORPION officers would focus on auto thefts, gang-related crimes and drug-related crimes."


cont:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/scorpion-unit-memphis-police-task-force-center-tyre/story?id=96720313

 

You had best call Yeos too and let him know that Nichols was "resisting arrest".


"Patrick Yoes, the president of the National Fraternal Order of Police, one of the largest police unions in the country, issued a statement Friday evening calling Nichols' death a "criminal assault" and saying the actions of the officers accused in his death "does not constitute legitimate police work or a traffic stop gone wrong."

 

Demonstrate exactly what 'conclusions' you allege I have jumped to.

 

I find it incomprehensible that these 5 didn't think they'd be held accountable for their actions and this was before Tyre Nichols died.


MEMPHIS POLICE BEATING STUNS NATION
ANGER AND PROTESTS
MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

 

It is you, who clearly misunderstands this term. But it is pointless for the two of us to make countering, personal claims. That is why I suggested you offer some law enforcement authority, concurring with your assertion, of what is so obvious, to your eye. I notice that you offered none-- did you have difficulty, finding anyone talking or writing about this story?


Do you trust the BBC?

<Google Snip>
Was TYRE Nichols resisting?
Footage of a traffic stop that has seen five ex-Memphis police officers charged with murder shows them kicking and punching a motorist for several minutes as he cries out for his mother. Officers are seen beating Tyre Nichols, 29, in the videos from the 7 January arrest, with no signs of him resisting.9 hours ago
<End Snip>
https://www.bbc.com › news › worl...
Video shows police beating and kicking Tyre Nichols while he was restrained



I only wonder if you are interpreting Nichols fleeing, as "resisting arrest," which, normally, it would be. But the police overuse of force began prior to Nichols' taking flight, in fact was clearly what caused it.

Here is another source, which relies on multiple legal experts:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.businessinsider.com/tyre-nichols-video-breakdown-police-protocol-legal-experts-punching-2023-1?amp

<Snip>
The video of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols being beaten by Memphis police was released Friday.
Legal experts told Insider the footage showed police met Nichols with force even though he wasn't initially resisting.
He may have run away from the officers because he thought he needed to in order to save his life, lawyers said...

Ritter said it was "abundantly clear" that "there was either a breakdown in training and protocol or a complete lack of training and protocol that these officers had to begin with."

"There's no reason why five officers need to reduce themselves to closed-fist punching in order to subdue a suspect who does not appear to be violent in return, but at the very worst can be said to not be compliant with their orders..." He added it was hard to believe there was no way the five officers should not have been able to detain Nichols safely, without resulting to physical blows. "It's almost as if they are trying to gain his compliance by assaulting him," he said.

Los Angeles-based civil rights attorney V. James DeSimone agreed the police's treatment of Nichols from the beginning of the interaction was excessive, adding "this could've all been avoided if police had treated this young man with respect in the first incidence" rather than with a "physical confrontation" and threats.

All of the lawyers Insider spoke to said that Nichols initially appeared compliant but was met with force anyways, raising questions about why he ended up running away, which could be construed as him resisting arrest and used to argue they were just trying to make a non-compliant person comply. "They came in hot. They came in just straight beating on him even though he was very compliant," Matthew Barhoma, a criminal defense attorney and founder of Barhoma Law, told Insider. "Then he resisted. And it raises the question: Why did he resist? It's very likely he resisted because he felt the need to save his life." Ritter agreed, adding that the "natural human instinct may be to resist when five people are essentially beating up on you."

 

He was beaten, before he ran. The beating, was the REASON that he ran.

See post #356, immediately preceding this one. It quotes numerous legal experts, who may perhaps be able to correct your counter-factual idea, of what took place.

 

Saw the video and no excuse what so ever for those officers actions. All should be tried and sentenced as this was a heinous act by all those who were there. This shouldn't be political, but all a spade a spade and throw these mofo's in prison!

 

Remember these 3 Chauvin thugs?
Cops are liable for what they do and for what they DON'T do.


3 officers found guilty on federal charges in George Floyd's ...
https://www.nbcnews.com › news › us-news › jury-reac...
Feb 25, 2022 — Kueng and Thao, additionally, were convicted of not intervening to stop their fellow officer Derek Chauvin from using excessive force.

"The former officers, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao, all were convicted of depriving Floyd of his civil rights while acting under government authority when they failed to give him medical aid. Kueng and Thao, additionally, were convicted of not intervening to stop their fellow officer Derek Chauvin from using excessive force.





"Davis has said other officers are under investigation, and Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner said two deputies have been relieved of duty without pay while their conduct is investigated.

Rodney Wells, Nichols’ stepfather, said the family would “continue to seek justice” and noted that several other officers failed to render aid, making them “just as culpable as the officers who threw the blows.”

https://apnews.com/article/politics-memphis-crime-law-enforcement-1b7e8fa4ed7120a897086250d5d6da35

 

I'm thinking it's possible Memphis intentionally hired strong arm neanderthals to deal with the criminal element.

 

The unit has been active for 13 months so there could be complaints that were filed against them?

 

The rules have changed for cops that use deadly force and lately their end game hasn't been pretty/

 

Apparently you were never taught to honor your Parents or respect authority. Had Nichols simply done as he was told multiple times by multiple Officers, all that followed would not have happened.

 

Chauvin IS innocent. Floyd died from drugs and heart failure.

 

I'd rather speak out.

 

Babbit SAW the police on the other side of the doors with about 4 or 5 guns aimed at her and she was warned not to enter. If they had let her enter the rest of the thugs would have followed her and this was the last barrier between the mob and the congress people. She ignored the warning certain that they wouldn’t fire. She was wrong. She got what she should have gotten.

I only wish the National Guard had come much earlier to repel the mob outside and before they broke in.

 

Kneeling on someone like that is a police tactic that THEY KNOW can be fatal, and Chauvin did it for nine minutes! That would likely cause heart failure!

 

A pack of murderous thugs beat a young man to death. If the city of Memphis deliberately engineered this, they need to be held to account to the tune of $Billions.

 

that's what police do in America, kill black men for literally no reason, duh. It's state sanctioned racial killings, much like race based chattel slavery was state sanctioned, America has not progressed at all really.

 

1. The cops were all black. The police chief is black. The mayor is black.

2. Blacks in America also kill black men for literally no reason.

 

I'm talking about killer cops in general and yes, it's a common denominator that the victim is usually black. Which came first in America [the chicken or the egg] the whites killing blacks or blacks killing blacks?

 

Why would cops kill blacks? These five idiots are going to regret it for the rest of their lives.

 

good question.

Why are whites racist is another great question. What is the root of white racism...I'm extremely curious about this, it's never been explained to me by a true racist...

 

Are you calling me a racist?

a number of times I suggested that, to eliminate accusations of racist cops busting black balls, we put black cops in black neighborhoods. Memphis did that and the race hustlers are still unhappy, CNN is having a racist field day with this.

 

Are black countries any less violent/more safe than white countries? Ya know, the police in Mexico aren’t the most friendly people you’d want to meet.