Police brutality is a serious societal issue in modern-day America. Each day, we hear or see the devastating lengths of inhumanity being belted out on innocent humans and promising members of society. Well, justice can only be delayed, not denied, as 5 officers have finally been charged with the second-degree murder of Tyre Nichols.
Keep reading for all the details.
Tyre Nichols was pulled over for reckless driving on the 7th of January, and things heated during an ensuing argument, leading to officers beating Nichols to a pulp.
He allegedly ran away from officers on foot and later got apprehended.
Nichols was hospitalized at St. Francis Hospital due to bleeding and injury from the beating, and he died on January 10. The autopsy conducted by the family specialist showed that he had died from internal bleeding caused by severe beating.
The video of the beating from the traffic stop, which would soon be made public, was provided to the Nichols family, who viewed it on Monday.
The 5 officers involved in the incident were fired immediately following the investigation results, and the 2 emergency workers were instantly relieved of their official duties until they rounded up the investigations.
The family has since hired civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump to represent them and air their grievances.
The cops have been charged with second-degree murder respectively as the public waits patiently for the footage release.
Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmit Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith have all been booked into the Shelby County Jail in Memphis today on multiple charges of second-degree murder, official misconduct, official oppression, and aggravated kidnapping.
Nichols' stepdad Rodney Wells spoke on behalf of the family at a press conference earlier this week, claiming that they won't accept anything less than a first-degree murder charge would be unacceptable.
Police Chief Cerelyn Davis urged the community to stay safe in the wake of the protests, which she predicted would occur.
An image released by Rodney this week shows Nichols on the hospital bed with blood on his face, a severely swollen eye, and him being hooked up to a breathing machine. He complained of shortness of breath upon getting to the hospital.
Alongside the Nichols family, Ben Crump and his legal team reviewed the footage from the incident scene privately and called it "appalling and heinous."
Another member of Crump's legal team referred to Nichols as a "human pinata for those police officers."
The Justice Department and the FBI have launched a joint civil rights investigation into Nichols' death which the Memphis Police Department has described as "not a reflection of the good work that our officers perform, with integrity, every day."
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has begun a separate investigation into the unfortunate incident, which has caused an uproar since January 7.
