Timeline: Tyre Nichols police killing key events
Tyre Nichols, a Black man, died several days after Memphis, Tennessee police repeatedly beat him following a 7 January traffic stop. Five Black officers involved in the incident were fired and charged Thursday with murder. The Memphis Police Department on Friday night publicly released four videos chronicling the deadly encounter.
Here is a timeline of the events as they happened.
7 January
Memphis police officers stop Nichols, 29. Nichols’ family has said that he was returning home after photographing the sunset. After the officers drag Nichols out of his car, and position him against the ground, he gets up and runs away. A confrontation at a nearby intersection subsequently unfolds, during which five officers punch, kick, and strike him with batons.
8 January
Memphis police claimed in a statement that officers tried to stop a man for reckless driving on 7 January and he was brought to hospital in critical condition following two confrontations. Given Nichols’ physical condition, the Memphis police department contacted the Shelby county prosecutor’s office, which in turn asked the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to carry out a use-of-force inquiry.
10 January
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation announced that Nichols “succumbed to his injuries”.
Nichols, originally from Sacramento, California, who had a 4-year-old son, was described as joyful and lovable by friends at a later memorial service.
14 January
Nichols’s family, friends, and supporters protested in front of a Memphis police station and demand the release body camera video of his arrest. Nichols’ stepfather, Rodney Wells, told reporters that his stepson suffered kidney failure and cardiac arrest because of the beatdown.
15 January
Memphis’ police chief, Cerelyn Davis, said she reviewed information on the incident and took immediate action by giving notice of policy violations to the officers involved in this deadly encounter.
16 January
Ben Crump, the civil rights attorney, said that he is representing Nichols’ family and urged police to release body camera and surveillance video footage. Demonstrators convened at the Civil Rights Museum demanding that officials release this footage.
18 January
The US Justice Department reveals that it has commenced a civil rights investigation.
20 January
Five officers involved in Nichols’ arrest – Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr and Justin Smith – are terminated following an internal investigation that determined they used excessive force, failed to intervene, and failed to render aid. All of these officers are Black.
23 January
Nichols’ family and their attorneys review the police video. They describe the footage as showing a “savage” three-minute interaction that recalled the notorious 1991 police beating of Black Los Angeles driver Rodney King. They tell media that Nichols was restrained, pepper-sprayed, and “was a human piñata for those police officers”. Crump said Nichols’ family agreed to authorities’ request to delay releasing this video, as to avoid putting a criminal investigation of the officers at risk.
24 January
The Memphis fire department reveals that two employees who were involved in Nichols’ initial care were relieved from duty while the department carries out an investigation.
25 January
Davis decries’ the officers’ behavior as “heinous, reckless and inhumane” while urging peaceful protest when the video is released.
26 January
The five officers are charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. “While each of the five individuals played a different role in the incident in question, the actions of all of them resulted in the death of Tyre Nichols and they are all responsible,” Mulroy said at a press conference.
27 January
Memphis officials release videos showing five officers brutalize Nichols as he begs for his mother. The chilling video, which was published in four parts by the Memphis police department, included both body-camera and street lamp-mounted camera footage showing officers pummeling Nichols.
After the beating, Nichols’ injuries were obvious, and his physical condition in clear decline, but an ambulance did not come to the scene for more than 20 minutes. Protesters took to the streets across the US in largely peaceful demonstration against police violence and in support of Nichols.
Advocates and officials across the US, including some police, decry the officers’ behavior. Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush said that Congress must take action, arguing “charging the officers who brutalized Tyre is not enough”.
Tennessee’s Shelby county sheriff Floyd Bonner said Friday night that two deputies had been relieved of duty.
“Having watched the video for the first time tonight, I have concerns about two deputies who appeared on the scene following the physical confrontation between police and Tyre Nichols,” Bonner said. “I have launched an internal investigation into the conduct of these deputies to determine what occurred and if any policies were violated.
28 January
CNN reported that the five officers are due in court on 17 February for their arraignment.
