Promising Updates in Tyre Nichols Case [Update]
Updated as of 1/18/2023 at 9:00 a.m. ET
Tyre Nichols, 29, died at the hospital from life-threatening injuries following a traffic stop by Memphis police, per The Associated Press. After his family took the streets demanding justice, the officers involved were in BIG trouble.
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Previously, the Memphis Police Department said the officers who pulled Nichols over were facing discipline following an internal investigation. That punishment was being relieved of duty, pending the investigation from the state bureau, per NBC News.
Regarding the family’s demand to know what happened between the arrest and the hospital, city officials say the video will be available to the public after the internal investigation.
“The video will be released publicly after the completion of the internal investigation into the actions of the officers and after the family of Mr. Nichols has had the opportunity to review the video privately,” read a statement from Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and Police Chief C.J. Davis.
On the other hand, the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office is also working to release the footage, but will do so carefully to avoid jeopardizing the investigation. Family attorney Benjamin Crump says the information we know so far about the case “tells us that this was the tragic and preventable death of a young man,” per NBC.
Here’s what we know so far:
Nichols was pulled over Jan. 7 for reckless driving. Authorities say as the cops approached Nichols, a “confrontation” ensued and he attempted to flee. He was approached again by the officers who arrested him. Then, seemingly out of the blue, Nichols complained of having a shortness of breath and then an ambulance was called.
The police department said Nichols died three days later after “succumbing to his injuries” —of which they didn’t specify and seemed to conveniently skip over how said injuries were caused in their press releases. Social media circulated an image of Nichols appearing beaten and bloodied in the hospital bed.
This is Tyre Nichols.
He was pulled over by an unmarked vehicle.
And when approached by an out of uniform officer.
He fled.
Once he had been detained. He was beaten to death.
His death is under investigation.
No one should die during a traffic stop. #ProudBlue pic.twitter.com/pE5prgMe2P— Suzanne (@suzyinthesun_s) January 16, 2023
This is the second reported death of a Black man following a traffic stop this month. Just last week, Washington D.C. teacher Keenan Anderson was shocked repeatedly with a Taser by the LAPD during a traffic stop. He died four hours later at the hospital. Both Anderson and Nichols’ family were left with more questions than answers as to how a routine stop could turn fatal.
Read more about it at NBC News:
Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing the family, is asking for police to release video from the stop, saying in a statement that “all of the available information tells us that this was the tragic and preventable death of a young man.”
“Nobody should ever die from a simple traffic stop — the footage is the only way to discern the true narrative of why and how that happened to Tyre,” Crump said.
Family members also demonstrated outside the National Civil Rights Museum with protesters Monday, holding signs with photos of Nichols. Rodney Wells, Nichols’ stepfather, was among the relatives protesting over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, NBC affiliate WMC reported.
“You shouldn’t be on a dialysis machine, press machine, looking like this because of a traffic stop,” Wells told WMC.
The Memphis Police Department said they are taking disciplinary action against the officers involved following an internal investigation the day of the incident. The state bureau of investigation and Shelby County District Attorney’s Office were contacted to conduct a use-of-force investigation.
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