Newly disclosed documents show that after Memphis police officers assaulted Tyre Nichols, 29. One of them snapped images of the injured man using his personal mobile phone and distributed them to various others.
Former Memphis police officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Desmond Mills, and Emmitt Martin III. They had their certifications revoked after the department submitted a statement of charges. To the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) in response to a public records request.
The Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training Board (POST) is responsible for certifying new police officers. And removing officers from active duty if they have been decertified.
“As stated in the paperwork, “[Haley] took two pictures of the visibly injured subject while standing in front of him while detained using [Haley’s] personal mobile phone.”
One civilian employee, two MPD officers, and a female acquaintance were among the five people [Haley] confessed sharing the photo with via text message.”
According to the internal document, it was determined that a total of six people had received the same photo.
According to state documents obtained by WREG of Memphis. Fired officer Demetrius Haley took two photos of the severely injured Nichols. On his own phone before he was killed.
According to the record, the 30-year-old police officer sent images of Nichols, who was propped up against a car because he could not sit up on his own, to two other officers, a civilian employee of the police department, and a female acquaintance.
Memphis Police Department submitted a paper to a state body asking that the five officers involved in Nichols’ killing be decertified and unfit to operate as cops in Tennessee. The document claims that a sixth individual also received the photos.
Haley Took Pictures Of Nichole After Beating Him
According to records acquired by the New York Times, Demetrius Haley is charged with using his cellphone to snap “two images while standing in front of the obviously injured” Nichols on January 7. Nichols had been detained and propped against a police cruiser.
According to the decertification documents submitted by the MPD to the Tennessee Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission, Haley has admitted that he “shared the photo in a text message” with five people, including one civilian employee, two officers from the Memphis Police Department, and “one female acquaintance.”
In context: The traffic stop resulted in the death of Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, three days later.
A total of five Black ex-police officers, including Haley, were terminated and eventually charged with second-degree murder in relation to the incident.
The Memphis Police Department wrote in documents asking for decertification of Haley and the other officers involved that their “on-duty conduct was grossly, plainly unprofessional and unacceptable for a sworn public servant.”
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What Officials Says On The Tyre Nichole Case?
The documents detail how the policemen coordinated their attack on Mr. Nichols, seemed to enjoy the assault afterwards, and later lied and withheld information while reporting the incident.
Mr. Nichols was forcibly removed from his vehicle by Officer Demetrius Haley, who also did not explain to him why he had been stopped or that he was under arrest. Some minutes after Mr. Nichols had fled from the police, they caught up with him and began to violently hold him, punching and kicking him repeatedly. Moreover, the police officers claimed that when one officer visited with Mr. Nichols’ mother after the incident, the officer “refused to offer an accurate description” of what had occurred.
The documents state that none of the officers’ body cameras recorded the full incident, despite protocols mandating officers to activate their body cameras during “all law enforcement engagements and activities.” One of the policemen, identified in the records as Emmitt Martin III, allegedly left his body camera in his vehicle.
It has been revealed that at least two of the policemen involved in the assault on January 7 falsely claimed that Mr. Nichols had attempted to grab an officer’s gun, despite there being no evidence to support such a claim, according to the records.
5 Officers Fired
Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith, and Emmitt Martin III, five officers, were all terminated. And charged with second-degree murder. The new files provide the fullest account to date of the actions taken by each officer.
As a result of the latest police killing, which has sparked widespread outrage. And a heated national dialogue about police treatment of Black citizens. Another officer has been terminated and a seventh has been placed on administrative leave.
According to reports from Tuesday, up to 13 Memphis police officers may face disciplinary action.
The materials were previously sealed as part of a plea by the Memphis Police Department. To have the five officers accused with murder be decertified and barred from future law enforcement employment. Each of the five decertification requests from the officers was signed by Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis.
According to the statement, Haley, who was driving an unmarked automobile. And wearing a black sweatshirt hoodie over his head. Yelled at Nichols to get out of his car before spraying him in the eyes with a chemical irritant spray.
It says, “You never informed the motorist of the vehicle stop’s objective or that he was under arrest.”
Haley was talking on the phone when he stopped Nichols. Therefore no footage of the encounter was captured by his body camera.
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Conclusion
Nichols was pulled over by police in Memphis on January 7 evening on suspicion of “reckless driving”. Though authorities with the department have since acknowledged they have discovered no proof. That he was actually driving recklessly. As multiple officers forcibly removed Nichols from his vehicle and threw him to the ground, an altercation broke out.
The documents also state that Smith claimed his body cam was not activated during the initial interaction. Despite functioning properly, that Martin did not disclose that he punched Nichols in the face. And kicked him multiple times, and that Mills removed his vest containing the body cam. And left it on his unmarked squad car.
According to the paperwork, paramedics requested that cops unhandcuff Nichols. So he could receive medical attention but were denied.
