MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) \u2014 Five fired Memphis police officers were charged Thursday with murder and other crimes in the killing of Tyre Nichols, a Black motorist who died three days after a confrontation with the officers during a traffic stop.
\nShelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told a news conference that although\u00a0the officers each played different roles\u00a0in the killing, \u201cthey are all responsible.\u201d
\nThe officers, who are all Black, each face charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.
\nVideo of the Jan. 7 traffic stop will be released to the public sometime Friday evening, Mulroy said. Nichols\u2019 family and their lawyers said the footage shows officers savagely beating the 29-year-old FedEx worker for three minutes in an assault that the legal team\u00a0likened to the infamous 1991 police beating\u00a0of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King. His family urged supporters to protest peacefully.
\nNichols\u2019 stepfather, Rodney Wells, told The Associated Press by phone that he and his wife, RowVaughn Wells, who is Nichols\u2019 mother, discussed the second-degree murder charges and are \u201cfine with it.\u201d They had sought first-degree murder charges.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s other charges, so I\u2019m all right with that,\u201d he said.
\nAsked about the kidnapping charges, the district attorney said: \u201cIf it was a legal detention to begin with, it certainly became illegal at a certain point and was an unlawful detention.\u201d
\nDavid Rausch, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, said he saw the video and found it \u201cabsolutely appalling.\u201d
\n\u201cLet me be clear: What happened here does not at all reflect proper policing. This was wrong. This was criminal,\u201d Rausch said during the news conference.
\nCourt records showed that all five former officers \u2014 Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith \u2014 were taken into custody.
\nMartin\u2019s lawyer, William Massey, confirmed that his client had turned himself in. He and Mills\u2019 lawyer, Blake Ballin, said their clients would plead not guilty. Lawyers for Smith, Bean and Haley could not be reached.
\n\u201cWe are in the dark about many things, just like the general public is,\u201d Ballin said.
\nSecond-degree murder is punishable by 15 to 60 years in prison under Tennessee law.
\nLater Thursday, Nichols\u2019 mother and stepfather were joined by several dozen supporters on a cold night for a candlelight vigil and prayer service at a Memphis skate park. Nichols, who had a 4-year-old son, was an avid skateboarder.
\nRowVaughn Wells thanked those who attended, then added that her family is \u201cgrief stricken.\u201d
\nShe warned supporters of the \u201chorrific\u201d nature of the video set to be released Friday, but she pleaded with supporters to \u201cprotest in peace.\u201d
\n\u201cI don\u2019t want us burning up our city, tearing up the streets, because that\u2019s not what my son stood for,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you guys are here for me and Tyre, then you will protest peacefully. You can get your point across but we don\u2019t need to tear up our cities, people, because we do have to live in them.\u201d
\nActivists and clergy led the group in prayer and a drummer played a steady rhythm to lead into the spoken part of the vigil. Afterwards, skaters rode their boards as Wells and her husband watched.
\nThe attorneys for Nichols\u2019 family, Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, issued a statement saying that Nichols \u201clost his life in a particularly disgusting manner that points to the desperate need for change and reform to ensure this violence stops occurring during low-threat procedures, like in this case, a traffic stop.\u201d
\nThe Rev. Al Sharpton, who runs the National Action Network and will deliver the eulogy at Nichols\u2019 funeral service next week, called the charges \u201ca necessary step in delivering justice\u201d for Nichols.
\n\u201cThere is no point to putting a body camera on a cop if you aren\u2019t going to hold them accountable when the footage shows them relentlessly beating a man to death,\u201d Sharpton said. \u201cFirings are not enough. Indictments and arrests are not convictions. As we\u2019ve done in the past … we will stand by this family until justice is done.\u201d
\nAt the White House, President Joe Biden said the Nichols family and the city of Memphis deserve \u201ca swift, full and transparent investigation.\u201d
\n\u201cPublic trust is the foundation of public safety, and there are still too many places in America today where the bonds of trust are frayed or broken,\u201d Biden said in a statement.
\nThe Memphis police chief has called the officers\u2019 actions that night \u201cheinous, reckless and inhumane.\u201d
\n\u201cThis is not just a professional failing. This is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual,\u201d Memphis Police Director Cerelyn \u201cCJ\u201d Davis said in a video statement released late Wednesday on social media.
\nDavis said the five officers found to be \u201cdirectly responsible for the physical abuse of Mr. Nichols,\u201d were fired last week, but other officers are still being investigated for violating department policy. In addition, she said \u201ca complete and independent review\u201d will be conducted of the department\u2019s specialized units, without providing further details.
\nTwo fire department workers were also removed from duty over the Nichols\u2019 arrest.
\nAs state and\u00a0federal investigations\u00a0continue, Davis promised the police department\u2019s \u201cfull and complete cooperation\u201d to determine what contributed to Nichols\u2019 Jan. 10 death.
\nMulroy told The Associated Press on Tuesday\u00a0that local and state investigators wanted to complete as many interviews as possible before releasing the video. The timetable has rankled some activists who expected the video to be released after Nichols\u2019 family and the family\u2019s lawyers viewed it Monday.
\nCrump said the video showed that Nichols was shocked, pepper-sprayed and restrained when he was pulled over near his home. He was returning home from a suburban park where he had taken photos of the sunset.
\nPolice have said Nichols was stopped for reckless driving and at some point fled from the scene.
\nRelatives have accused the police of causing Nichols to have a heart attack and kidney failure. Authorities have only said Nichols experienced a medical emergency.
\nWhen video of the arrest is publicly released, Davis said she expects people in the community to react, but she urged them to do so peacefully.
\n\u201cNone of this is a calling card for inciting violence or destruction on our community or against our citizens,\u201d she said.
\nOne of the officers, Haley, was accused previously of using excessive force. He was named as a defendant in a 2016 federal civil rights lawsuit while employed by the Shelby County Division of Corrections.
\nThe plaintiff, Cordarlrius Sledge, stated that he was an inmate in 2015 when Haley and another corrections officer accused him of flushing contraband. The two officers \u201chit me in the face with punches,\u201d according to the complaint.
\nA third officer then slammed his head to the ground, Sledge said. He lost consciousness and woke up in the facility\u2019s medical center.
\nThe claims were ultimately dismissed after a judge ruled that Sledge had failed to file a grievance against the officers within 30 days of the incident.<\/p>\n