Who Was Tyre Nichols? What We Know About His Death And Memphis Police Arrest

who is tyre nichols

Tyre Nichols, a black man from Memphis, Tennessee, who was 29 years old, died on January 10 after five police officers beat him badly.

The police officers involved in Nichols’ death, which was the latest case of police brutality in the country, have been charged with second-degree murder.

Nichols’ family and lawyers say that footage shows officers beating the 29-year-old violently for three minutes. The attack was likened by the legal team to the famous 1991 beating of Los Angeles driver Rodney King by police.

Here’s what we know about what happened to Tyre Nichols:

Who Was Tyre Nichols?

Nichols, who loved taking pictures, was on his way home on January 7 after taking pictures of the sunset. Police officers pulled him over for a traffic stop just before he got to his mother’s house. Three days after the fight with the police, Nichols died.

Nichols was the father of a boy who was 4 years old and lived in Memphis with his parents. He worked at FedEx with his stepfather on the second shift. Every day at 7 p.m., when they had their lunch break, the two of them would come home together, and his mother would have a meal ready for them.

Family and Friends Remember Nichols as a kind, friendly man who worked hard to be a good father to his son, who was 4 years old.

“Nobody’s perfect, nobody.” “But he was so close to dying,” his mother, Rowvaughn Wells, said this week at a news conference, right after she saw the video of her son being beaten to death. “He was pretty close to perfect.”

Family lawyers say that in the video, which came out on Friday, Nichols can be heard saying that he just wants to go home. He was about 100 yards from where his mother lived.

Lawyers talked about Nichols’s last words, which included calling for his mother three times.

What Happened To The Police Officers?

After Nichols died, five police officers were fired after an internal investigation found that, among other things, they had used too much force.

The officers, who are all black, are being charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct, and official oppression.

The Memphis Police Chief said that the actions of the officers that night were “heinous, reckless, and inhumane.”

Court records showed that all five former officers, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III, and Justin Smith, had posted bail and were let out of jail. All five of them have to go to court on Feb. 17, 2023, at 9 a.m.

Will The Video Be Released?

On Friday night, police showed a video of the deadly event. On Friday, the Memphis police chief said that the whole video will be longer than an hour.

Nichols’ mother warned that the video was “horrific,” but she asked people who liked it to “protest in peace.”

The lawyers for Nichols’ family said that the video shows the 29-year-old being beaten for three minutes in a “savage” way that reminds them of the famous beating of Los Angeles driver Rodney King by police in 1991.

During the police confrontation, Nichols was shocked, sprayed with pepper spray, and held down, as the video shows.

In Memphis, after-school activities have been cancelled, and places like the Memphis Power Company’s community offices and the University of Memphis have been told to close early.

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