Memphis police disbands Scorpion unit that beat to death black motorist Tyre Nichols
- The five disgraced former Memphis Police Department officers, who are also black, have been fired and charged with murder and other crimes
- Cities nationwide had braced for demonstrations, but the protests around the country were scattered and nonviolent
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 pummelling 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 on Friday left many unanswered questions about the traffic stop involving the black motorist and about other police 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 Jnr, Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith – face 60 years in prison if convicted of second-degree murder.
