The officer in the United States who pulled 29-year-old Tyre Nichols from his car before police fatally beat him never explained why Nichols was being stopped, newly released documents show.
Emerging reports from residents in Memphis, Tennessee, where the beating took place, also suggest this approach is common.
Documents released on Tuesday by the Tennessee Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission blast the conduct of Demetrius Haley and four other officers as “blatantly unprofessional”. They include revelations that Haley took photographs of the injured Nichols as he lay propped against a police car.
Haley then sent the photos to other officers and a female acquaintance, the Memphis Police Department wrote, requesting that the five officers be stripped of the ability to work as police for their role in the January 7 beating.
Nichols died three days later – the latest police killing to prompt nationwide protests and an intense public conversation about how police treat Black Americans.
Yet, what led to it all remains a mystery.
The five officers – Haley, Desmond Mills Jr, Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith and Emmitt Martin III – have been fired and charged with second-degree murder. The new documents offer the most detailed account to date of those officers’ actions. Their attorneys have not commented to The Associated Press about the documents.
Another officer also has been fired and a seventh relieved of duty. Six others could receive administrative discipline, officials disclosed without providing any details. That would bring the total involved to 13.
Erica Williams, a spokesperson for the top prosecutor in Memphis, said more charges could still be filed because an investigation is ongoing.
Meanwhile, other residents are coming forward about interactions with Memphis police.
