Scorpion unit at centre of Tyre Nichols death disbanded by Memphis police
Warning: There are distressing images of police violence towards Tyre Nichols in this report by Robert Moore
Memphis' so-called Scorpion unit has been disbanded after shocking footage showed some of its officers brutally beating a young black man who later died.
Tyre Nichols died in hospital on January 10, three days after five officers pinned the motorist down and struck him with their fists, boots and batons while he screamed for his mother.
As anger spread across the US over the 29-year-old man's death, the Memphis police chief on Saturday went back on an earlier statement that she would keep the Scorpion unit intact.
Police Director Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said she listened to Mr Nichols' relatives, community leaders and uninvolved officers in making the decision.
Referring to “the heinous actions of a few" that cast “a cloud of dishonour” on the unit, Davis said it was imperative that the department "take proactive steps in the healing process.”
“It is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate the Scorpion unit,” she said in a statement.
She added that the officers currently assigned to the unit agreed "unreservedly" with the department's step.
The unit, whose name stands for "Street Crimes Operations to Restore Peace in our Neighbourhoods", is composed of three teams of about 30 officers.
It was set up to target violent offenders in high crime areas, and has been inactive since Nichols' arrest on January 7.
Protesters marching through downtown Memphis cheered when they heard the unit had been dissolved.
In an interview yesterday, Ms Davis said she would not shut down a unit if a few officers commit “some egregious act” and because she needs that unit to continue to work.
“The whole idea that the Scorpion unit is a bad unit, I just have a problem with that,” she said, before the subsequent disbanding.
The footage released on Friday left many unanswered questions about the traffic stop involving Nichols and about other law enforcement officers who stood by as he lay motionless on the pavement.
It also renewed doubts about why fatal encounters with law enforcement continue to happen after repeated calls for change.
The five disgraced former Memphis Police Department officers, who are also black, have been fired and charged with murder and other crimes in Nichols’ death three days after the arrest.
The recording shows police savagely beating Nichols, a FedEx worker, for three minutes while screaming profanities at him.
The Nichols family legal team has likened the assault to the infamous 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King.
Mr Nichols calls out for his mother before his limp body is propped against a squad car and the officers exchange fist-bumps, the footage shows.
The five officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith — face up to 60 years in prison if convicted of second-degree murder.
Ms Davis has said other officers are under investigation, and Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner said two deputies have been relieved of duty without pay while their conduct is investigated.
Rodney Wells, Mr Nichols’ stepfather, said the family would “continue to seek justice" and noted that several other officers failed to render aid, making them “just as culpable as the officers who threw the blows”.
A Memphis police spokeswoman declined to comment on the role played by other officers who showed up at the scene.
Cities nationwide had braced for demonstrations, but the protests were scattered and nonviolent.
Several dozen demonstrators in Memphis blocked the Interstate 55 bridge that carries traffic over the Mississippi River toward Arkansas. Protesters also blocked traffic in New York City, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon.
Blake Ballin, the lawyer for Mills, said in a statement on Saturday that the videos “produced as many questions as they have answers”.
Some of the questions will focus on what Mills “knew and what he was able to see" and whether his actions "crossed the lines that were crossed by other officers during this incident,” he said.
One officer in the footage can be heard saying that Mr Nichols wouldn’t stop and then swerved as though he intended to hit the officer’s car.
The officer said that when Mr Nichols pulled up to a red light, the officers jumped out of the car. But Ms Davis has said the department cannot substantiate a reason.
She added: “We don’t know what happened. All we know is the amount of force that was applied in this situation was over the top.”
After the first officer roughly pulls Mr Nichols out of the car, the driver can be heard saying, “I didn't do anything.”
A group of officers then begin to wrestle him to the ground, and one is heard yelling: “Tase him! Tase him!”
Mr Nichols calmly says, “OK, I’m on the ground... You guys are really doing a lot right now... I’m just trying to go home.”
“Stop, I’m not doing anything!” he yells moments later. The victim can then be seen running as an officer fires a Taser at him.
Footage later shows an officer beating Mr Nichols with his nightstick after saying: “I’m going to baton the f**k out of you.”
Other officers then appear to hoist Nichols to his feet as he flops like a doll - barely able to stand upright – before receiving more punches to the face.
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It takes more than 20 minutes after Nichols is beaten and on the pavement before any sort of medical attention is provided.
During the wait for an ambulance, officers joked and aired grievances, complaining that a handheld radio was ruined, and that officers had been caught in the crossfire of pepper spray used against Mr Nichols.
During a speech Saturday in Harlem, the Rev. Al Sharpton said the beating was particularly egregious because the officers were black.
The civil rights activists said: "Your blackness will not stop us from fighting you. These five cops not only disgraced their names, they disgraced our race."