MEMPHIS, Tennessee (Reuters) – A specialized police force, including at least some of the Memphis officers involved in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, was disbanded on Saturday, police said. It was scheduled for the day after the harrowing video of the attack was released.
In a statement, the department said it would permanently disable the SCORPION unit after the police chief spoke to Nichols’ family, community leaders and other officials.
Video footage from body-worn police cameras and pole-mounted cameras showed Nicholls, a 29-year-old black man, repeatedly yelling “Mom!” When police kicked, punched and batoned him after traffic stopped in his mother’s neighborhood on Jan. 7. He was hospitalized and died of his injuries three days later. The release of the clip on Friday sparked protests in Memphis and elsewhere, prompting many cities to prepare for more demonstrations on Saturday.
Five all-black police officers involved in the assault were charged Thursday with murder, assault, kidnapping and other charges. All were released from the department.
In Memphis on Saturday, protesters chanted, “Whose street? Our street! When I learned about the dissolution of SCORPION, a big cheer went up.
The unit was formed in October 2021 to focus on crime hotspots. Critics say such professional teams can be vulnerable to abusive tactics.
Taken together, the four video clips of him showed police beating Nichols, even though Nichols appeared to pose no threat. The first stop was due to reckless driving, but the police chief said the reason for the stop was not explained. Friends and family say Nichols was a good-natured, talented skateboarder who grew up in Sacramento, Calif., and moved to Memphis before the coronavirus pandemic. , recently enrolled in a photography class.
Nate Speights Jr., 42, was part of his circle of friends, including Nichols, whom he met at a local Starbucks.
“He liked what he liked and was marching to the beat of his own drum,” Speights said, while Nichols went to a park called Shelby Farms to watch the sunset.
Nichols’ death is the latest high-profile example of police use of excessive force against blacks and other minorities. The 2020 killing of black George Floyd in Minneapolis after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes sparked global protests against racism.
