A Justice Department investigation launched after the beating death of Tyre Nichols in 2023 found that "Memphis police officers regularly violate the rights of the people they are sworn to serve."
A jury in Memphis convicted three former officers on some charges in a federal civil rights case. The ex-cops beat him to death last year after a traffic stop, and conspired to cover up the attack.
Emmitt Martin III testified that he punched the 29-year-old Black man at least five times while two Memphis police colleagues held his arms and said “hit him."
Emmitt Martin III, a former Memphis police officer who has pleaded guilty in the case, took the stand in the federal trial of former colleagues Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith.
Emmitt Martin is the second former officer to plead guilty in the killing that sparked outrage and renewed calls for police reform. Three former officers still face trial in federal court next month.
About 21 hours of newly released video and audio are revealing more about what first responders in Memphis, Tenn., did and said the night Nichols was pulled over and mortally injured.
In a report to be made public Wednesday, federal officials call for mayors and police chiefs to assess whether such specialized units are even necessary to solve community problems.
A Memphis City Council committee voted to replace Chief Cerelyn "CJ" Davis a year after the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols by five officers generated intense criticism of her department.
Desmond Mills Jr. changed his plea to guilty in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, becoming the first of five officers charged to reverse course. The agreement would settle state and federal charges.
After the beating death of Tyre Nichols by five Memphis police officers in January and other abuses that have come to light, the police department is under mounting pressure to change its culture.
The five former police officers face charges of excessive force, deliberate indifference and witness tampering for the January death of the 29-year-old Nichols.
The Justice Department said its investigation will focus on the Memphis Police Department's use of force, its stops and arrests and whether the department engages in discriminatory policing.
The 29-year-old's official cause of death was ruled a homicide, according to the report released Thursday by the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center.
The lawsuit compared Nichols' fatal police beating to the 1955 killing of Emmett Till, saying the 29-year-old suffered a beating "endured at hands of a modern-day lynch mob."
Black police chiefs, commissioners, sheriffs and commanders from across the country are set to meet this weekend in Detroit for the annual CEO symposium of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.
