Tyre Nichols: Police unit is disbanded after death

The Memphis Police Department has disbanded the so-called Scorpion special unit, whose officers are accused of murdering Tyre Nichols.

Scorpion stands for “Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods”.

The unit is a 50-person unit with the mission of bringing down crime levels in particular areas.

But now it is being abolished after its officers were seen beating Mr Nichols, 29, in the videos from 7 January.

In a statement, the department said “it is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate” the unit.

“While the heinous actions of a few casts a cloud of dishonour on the title Scorpion, it is imperative that we, the Memphis Police Department, take proactive steps in the healing process for all impacted,” it added.

The unit was launched in October 2021 with a focus on high-impact crimes, such as car thefts and gang-related offences.

The five officers – Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr, Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith – were fired last week.

They were taken into custody on Thursday and each faces charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.

Four of the five posted bail and were released from custody by Friday morning, according to jail records.

Lawyers for Mr Martin and Mr Mills have said their clients will plead not guilty.

Police initially said Mr Nichols had been stopped on suspicion of reckless driving, which has not been substantiated. He died in hospital three days later, on 10 January.

Mr Nichols was black, as are all five officers charged in the case.

Memphis Police Department released four graphic videos of the traffic stop and its violent aftermath on Friday, totalling more than an hour of footage.

Peaceful protests took place in Memphis on Friday night after the video was released, with some demonstrators blocking a major highway in the city, while small-scale demonstrations were held elsewhere in the country.

Many protesters held banners demanding justice for Mr Nichols and an end to “police terror”.

Lawyers for Mr Nichols’ family likened the assault to the 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King.

The Scorpion programme was touted by Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland in a speech a year ago. He said the city used crime data “to determine where the unit will conduct its enforcement activities within the city”.

From October 2021 until January 2022, the unit made 566 arrests, he said. They also seized more than $100,000 in cash, 270 vehicles and 253 weapons.

In the wake of Mr Nichols’ death, one local man, Cornell McKinney, told a Memphis-area TV network that he had a tense encounter with the unit on 3 January, just days before the incident involving Mr Nichols.

Mr McKinney alleges that the officers – who were travelling in unmarked vehicles – threatened to “blow his head off”, pointed a weapon at his head and accused him of carrying drugs.

He complained to the Memphis Police Department after the incident, but says he has not heard anything back.

One of the officers that arrested Mr Nichols had previously been sued by a man who accused him of beating him when he was a prisoner eight years ago.