A Memphis police report appears to contradict video released last week, which revealed officers said they spoke to Tire Nichols’ mother at the scene the night she was fatally injured in a traffic stop.
The encounter between the city police and Nichols led to the firing of five officers who were also charged with murder. Disciplinary action has been taken against additional officers and three fire department employees.
All five were members of the department’s anti-crime unit, called Street Crime Operations to Restore Peace to Our Neighborhoods, or SCORPION for short. The unit has since disbanded amid a storm of criticism and accusations of excessive force and questionable tactics.
Michael Scholl, a Memphis-based criminal defense attorney, said “being roughed up was the norm” during the SCORPION arrests and that the unit did not have adequate supervision.
TIRE NICHOLS VIDEO: MEMPHIS AUTHORITIES RELEASE IMAGES OF DEADLY TRAFFIC STOP
Leaked incident report containing disputed details about the deadly January 7 traffic stop involving Tire Nichols, which led to murder charges against five Memphis police officers.
(The pastor who curses/Facebook)
“I have had members of these units in court before,” he told Fox News Digital. “It was a matter of time before this happened.”
RowVaughn Wells, Nichols’s mother, has said there is “no evidence to substantiate” police’s claim that her son had initially been pulled over for reckless driving.
But a leaked incident report, first obtained by local radio host Thaddeus Matthews and posted online, alleges that she arrived on the scene and told officers that her son was “out with friends” who “could have given him a touch to your drink”.
DEATH OF TIRE NICHOLS: MEMPHIS POLICE TO TURN ON MORE AUDIO AND VIDEO
A view from a camera mounted above the intersection where Memphis police caught up with Tire Nichols, who died three days later. Authorities released footage of the deadly encounter between Nichols and police on Friday.
(Memphis Police Department)
Shelby County authorities did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the authenticity of the document, but District Attorney Steven Mulroy told the New York Times that his copy of the police report contained the same version of the facts.
WATCH: Body camera footage shows officers standing over injured Tire Nichols as he screams for his mother
The report accuses Nichols of resisting arrest, trying to take an officer’s gun and fighting with detectives.
TIRE NICHOLS FAMILY DISMISSES RUMOR ABOUT STICKING DEATH OF MEMPHIS MAN AFTER POLICE ARREST
Memphis officials released four videos on Friday and announced they would disband SCORPION on Saturday. Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis, who called the behavior of the five officers “appalling, reckless and inhumane,” created the unit in 2021.
Videos show officers beating him with pepper spray, stun guns, a baton, and their fists and boots, while colleagues hold him down or from behind.
RowVaughn Wells and her husband Rodney Wells arrive for the funeral of their son Tire Nichols at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, Tennessee on Wednesday, February 1, 2023.
(Andrew Nelles/Pool via Reuters)
Neither video shows any activity before an officer responds to a stop in progress, backing up colleagues who are already fighting Nichols at a red light when he arrives.
In part of the video, the officers can be heard discussing his alleged driving, “steering” and nearly hitting one of them, and claiming that he pulled a gun from an officer’s belt.
Memphis police have released video showing a deadly traffic stop on January 7 that led to murder charges against four officers.
(Memphis Police Department)
“The fact that the report is different from the video doesn’t surprise me,” Scholl said. “That’s an effort to cover up the situation and make it look like they were justified in doing these things.”
DEATH OF TIRE NICHOLS: MEMPHIS POLICE ‘PERMANENTLY DISABLES’ SCORPION UNIT
The special task force was assigned to high-crime areas of the city, where the department received the most 911 calls, he said.
“In addition, police claim my son left the scene on foot,” Wells wrote in a GoFundMe campaign that has raised more than $1.3 million following her son’s death. “As it turns out, he was just trying to get to my house for security, which was only a few blocks from where the incident occurred.”
This photo provided by the Nichols family shows Tire Nichols, who had a passion for photography and was described by friends as cheerful and adorable. Nichols was just minutes from his home in Memphis, Tennessee, on January 7, 2023, when he was stopped by police and fatally beaten. Since then, five Memphis police officers have been charged with second-degree murder and other crimes.
(Courtesy of the Nichols family via AP)
In the videos, Nichols can be heard calling for his mother before police beat him dazed.
He was hospitalized with serious injuries and died three days later, according to authorities.
“He had never been in trouble with the law, not even a parking ticket,” Wells wrote. “He was an honest man, a wonderful son, and kind to everyone. He was quirky and true to himself, and his loss will be felt nationally.”
This combination of stock images provided by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office shows, from top row left to right, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, bottom row left to right, Desmond Mills, Jr. and Justin Smith.
(Shelby County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
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Tennessee court records reveal few encounters with police prior to the Jan. 7 arrest. He had a couple of moving violations and was once late paying a ticket in 2015. The charge was dismissed.
five officers each faces more than half a dozen charges, including second-degree murder. They have been identified as Demetrius Haley, Tadarrius Bean, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, and Justin Smith.
Nichols was laid to rest at a funeral in Memphis on Wednesday.
