The Memphis Police Department has dismissed the alleged murderers of Tyre Nichols, the so-called Scorpion special team.
“Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods” is the acronym for “Scorpion.”
The unit is a 50-person squad charged with reducing crime rates in specific areas.
In footage from 7 January, however, its police were seen assaulting Mr. Nichols, 29, prompting its abolition.
The department stated in a statement that “it is in everyone’s best interest to permanently deactivate” the unit.
“While the atrocious actions of a few threw a cloud of disgrace on the title Scorpion, it is vital that we, the Memphis Police Department, take proactive steps to facilitate the healing process for all affected,” the statement continued.
In a statement released by their attorneys, Mr. Nichols’ family hailed the verdict as “both reasonable and proportional to Tyre Nichols’ sad loss, as well as a decent and just verdict for all Memphis residents.”
The team was established in October 2021 with a concentration on high-impact crimes such as auto theft and gang-related offenses.
Five cops were fired last week: Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III, and Justin Smith.
Each is charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, governmental misconduct, and official oppression. They were arrested on Thursday.
According to jail records, four of the five paid bond and were freed from custody by Friday morning.
Mr. Martin and Mr. Mills’ attorneys have stated that their clients will enter not-guilty pleas.
Two deputy sheriffs who “came on the scene following” the encounter have also been suspended pending an internal inquiry, according to Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr.
In Memphis, a protester shouted through a megaphone, “The unit that murdered Tyre has been permanently disbanded,” causing the audience to erupt in applause.
Despite the rain, less than 100 protestors gathered in the plaza in front of the Memphis Police Department headquarters to demand a change to a system of policing that, according to them, routinely brutalizes black people in Memphis and across the nation.
Casio Montez, one of the protest organizers, stated, “Memphis is taking a stance.” This indicates that we are doing something right.
Mr. Montez said that he and other community organizers would continue to exert pressure on Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis and other authorities until “the community’s demands are realized,” including the restructuring of the department’s organized crime unit.
The Scorpion team was designed to be “more sensitive” and “more proactive” towards gun violence in the city, according to Chief Davis. She conceded, however, that the police who violently assaulted Tyre Nichols “went off the rails.”
“We are evaluating each unit individually,” she stated. “This is a required step. We desire complete transparency with the community.”
After the killing of Tyre Nichols, a police unit is dismantled
For some, though, the problem of police brutality has deeper roots than any change can address.
Memphis resident Allie Watkins held a sign reading “All police officers promote white supremacy” Saturday.
She stated that the sign is historically accurate because the history of law enforcement in America began with slave patrols.
“This is not a problem with corruption in the United States; this is a problem with the fact that the system was created against black bodies.” She emphasized that the only way to change a failing system is to start over.
Professor of constitutional law at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice Gloria Browne-Marshall told the BBC that “national criminal justice reform is necessary.” She stated that units similar to the Scorpion unit exist “around the country,” hence rendering piecemeal change ineffective.
Police first stated that Mr. Nichols was stopped on suspicion of driving recklessly, but this has not been confirmed. On January 10th, three days later, he died in the hospital.
Mr. Nichols was black, as were the five indicted cops.
The Memphis Police Department released four unsettling recordings of the traffic stop and its violent aftermath on Friday.
Following the broadcast of the film on Friday evening, peaceful protests occurred in Memphis, with some people blocking a major highway, while small-scale protests occurred elsewhere in the country.
Numerous protestors displayed placards calling for justice for Mr. Nichols and an end to “police terror.”
Mr. Nichols’ family attorneys compared the incident to the 1991 police beating of Los Angeles driver Rodney King.
In a speech given a year ago, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland promoted the Scorpion program. According to him, the city uses crime statistics to “determine where enforcement efforts will be conducted within the city”
He stated that between October 2021 and January 2022, the squad conducted 566 arrests. In addition, they seized almost $100,000 in cash, 270 vehicles, and 253 firearms.
Cornell McKinney, a neighborhood resident, told a Memphis-area television station that he had a difficult meeting with the unit on January 3, only days before the incident involving Mr. Nichols.
Mr. McKinney claims that the officers, who were in unmarked vehicles, threatened to “blow his head off,” brandished a firearm at his head, and accused him of possessing drugs.
After the incident, he filed a complaint with the Memphis Police Department, but he has not heard back.
Eight years ago, a prisoner sued one of Mr. Nichols’ detainers for attacking him.
