Memphis Police Department Public Information Officer Major Karen Rudolph told The Tennessee Star in an emailed statement on Tuesday, “There is no evidence that indicates that either of these claims are true,” in response to two questions posed to her by The Star:
1. Multiple sources in Memphis tell us that one of the five former Memphis Police officers charged with 2nd degree murder in the beating death of Tyre Nichols targeted Mr. Nichols for a beating because Mr. Nichols was in a personal relationship with the officer’s current or former significant other. Can you confirm or deny this report?
2. Multiple sources in Memphis tell us that one or more of the five former Memphis Police officers were affiliated with the Vice Lords gang. Can you confirm or deny this report?
The Star was prompted to pose these questions directly to the Memphis Police Department after more than two dozen sources in the Memphis area told The Star that both these claims were widely circulating.
Multiple sources asserted that these claims were provided to them from sources within the Memphis Police Department, but no source has provided direct evidence on the claims and no source within the Memphis Police Department has come forward to The Star to make or confirm the claims.
The claims have been widely reported and repeated on social media.
As The Star reported on Saturday:
The five former Memphis police officers who were charged last week with second degree murder in the beating death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols were part of a special, 40-member SCORPION (Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods) unit established in October 2021 by Memphis Police Department Chief Cerelyn Davis and Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, a Democrat.
Police body cam and street surveillance video of the January 7, 2023 beating of Nichols, who died on January 10 as a result of those injuries, released on Friday night raised multiple questions about violations of standard police protocol by the five former officers: Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin, and Desmond Mills, Jr. (pictured above).
The officers claimed that Nichols was stopped on January 7 because they observed him driving recklessly. On Friday, Chief Davis said there was no evidence to support that claim.
The body cam video of the beginning of the incident shows that Nichols was sitting in the drivers seat of his stopped vehicle when one of the five officers approached. Rather than following standard protocol followed in normal traffic stops and asking Nichols for his registration and drivers license, the officer opened the car door, dragged Nichols out of the car, and threw him to the ground. Subsequently, several officers surrounded the prone Nichols, yelling “show us your hands.” None appeared to possess handcuffs and, inexplicably, the officers were unable to subdue Nichols, who subsequently, again inexplicably, was able to evade multiple officers and run away from the first location, only to be chased by multiple officers to another location an estimated 100 yards away where the fatal beating was delivered.
The Star subsequently reported:
On Monday, the Memphis Police Department (MPD) announced that a seventh officer has been relieved of duty amid the ongoing investigation into the beating death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols. In addition, the Memphis Fire Dispatch (MFD) announced that three paramedics have been terminated from the Memphis Fire Department as a result of its own internal investigation into Nichols’ death.
The Star will continue to report on this story as it develops.
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Michael Patrick Leahy is the Editor in Chief of The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Leahy on Twitter @michaelpleahy.
