Five former Memphis Police Department officers will be arraigned Friday on criminal charges related to Tyre Nichols' death in January. He was brutally beaten during a traffic check.
Second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated abduction, official misconduct, and official oppression are the allegations filed against Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin III, and Desmond Mills Jr, according to AP News.
In the aftermath of a traffic stop and a short foot chase on January 7, Nichols, a 29-year-old Black male, was repeatedly struck and kicked by the police officers accused.
Tyre Nichols passed away three days after being admitted to the hospital after the vicious assault.
Memphis has released footage of the incident, and this still shows a police officer responding to the location where Tyre Nichols was assaulted.
Tyre Nichols was accused of careless driving, according to Memphis police officers, but no official records or video footage have surfaced to back up this allegation.
Director of Police for the City of Memphis, Cerelyn "CJ" Davis, has said that she has found no evidence to support the stop or the officers' actions;
US Top Officials Condemn Brutal Police Assault
Upon Tyre Nichols death, Davis formally dissolved the Scorpion unit, which she had formed in November 2021, according to CNN.
When an internal inquiry concluded that the five policemen had committed criminal acts, they were terminated and prosecuted on January 26.
On January 27, four videos of the police confrontation with Tyre Nichols were made public, prompting widespread outrage and condemnation from authorities, including US President Joe Biden and FBI Director Christopher Wray, per NBC News.