3 Former Officers Found Guilty of Cover-Up in Tyre Nichols’s Death
The former officers were acquitted of the most serious charge in the case — violating Mr. Nichols’s #CivilRights by causing his death.
By Emily Cochrane and Ben Stanley
Reporting from Memphis.
Oct. 3, 2024
"Three former Memphis police officers were found guilty on Thursday of federal witness tampering charges in the violent beating of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who died three days after his encounter with the police.
But all of the officers were acquitted of the most serious charge in the case — violating Mr. Nichols’s civil rights by causing his death. One officer, Demetrius Haley, was convicted on a lesser charge of violating Mr. Nichols’s civil rights by causing bodily injury.
"The mixed verdict in the federal trial in Memphis comes nearly two years after Mr. Nichols’s death, which sickened many across the nation, who viewed it as the latest example of a young Black man being subjected to #ExcessiveForce at the hands of the #police.
"Video of the January 2023 encounter showed that after Mr. Nichols fled a #TrafficStop, officers viciously punched and kicked him, ignoring his cries for his mother and his attempts to comply with a barrage of conflicting commands. None of the officers reported the extent of the beating.
"The three defendants, along with two other former officers who pleaded guilty to their role in the violence, still face additional state charges, including second-degree murder.
"Sentencing on the federal convictions is expected to occur in January.
"'You know what these officers did and know it because you saw it over and over again,' said Kathryn Gilbert, a Justice Department lawyer, in closing statements. 'You can use your eyes. You can use your ears. You can use your common sense. You know what these officers did.'
"The trial, which lasted about 17 days, exposed a culture of #secrecy and #violence within the #MemphisPolice Department, where officers held to an unspoken agreement that they could punish anyone who fled from them and downplay the violence. The five officers — all of whom are Black — were part of a team within the specialized Scorpion street crime unit, where arrest statistics and confiscations were a priority."
Original article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/03/us/tyre-nichols-verdict.html
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/IDgFH#selection-823.0-859.413
Family member condemns use of 
