Why was Tyre Nichols pulled over by Memphis police? - The Independent

On Friday evening, Memphis officials released video footage of the convulsive apprehension of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black antheral who died 3 days aft being severely beaten during a postulation stop.

The young man’s decease has caused heavy pain for the Nichols family, and has sparked a city-wide scandal.

Five Memphis constabulary officers progressive successful the halt were fired past week, and now look execution charges.

Former president Donald Trump has described the fatal beating arsenic “horrible” and says it “never should person happened.”

Body-camera footage of the ordeal was released by the metropolis astatine 7pm ET connected Friday. The video showed officers dragging Nichols from his car and firing a taser limb astatine him earlier helium fled the country connected foot.

Here’s what we cognize astir the postulation halt wherever things began:

Why was Nichols stopped?

The Memphis Police Department initially said that Nichols was pulled implicit astir 8.30pm section clip for “reckless driving.”

“As officers approached the operator of the vehicle, a confrontation occurred, and the fishy fled the country connected foot,” constabulary said astatine the time. “Officers pursued the fishy and again attempted to instrumentality the fishy into custody. While attempting to instrumentality the fishy into custody, different confrontation occurred; however, the fishy was yet apprehended.”

Police enactment aboriginal walked backmost those claims.

“I’m going to beryllium honorable with you astir the halt itself. What was said was determination was witnessing of what was considered reckless driving,” constabulary main Cerelyn Davis told CNN connected Friday. “We’ve looked astatine cameras. We’ve looked astatine assemblage worn cameras. Even if thing occurred anterior to this stop, we’ve been incapable to substantiate it.”

“We’ve taken a beauteous extended look to find what that probable origin was and we person not been capable to substantiate that,” she added. “It doesn’t mean that thing didn’t happen, but there’s nary proof.”

The Nichols household is besides skeptical of the constabulary mentation of events.

“We don’t cognize thing different than we got to spot successful the video,” Ben Crump, lawyer for the Nichols family, said connected Friday during a property conference.

“They accidental helium was driving recklessly. We person to spot it. We surely can’t instrumentality their connection for it.”

What we bash cognize is that aft the halt began, constabulary and Nichols engaged successful immoderate benignant of carnal altercation, and astatine 1 constituent Nichols fled police.

Police dispatch audio obtained by Fox 13 captures officers saying, “We person 1 achromatic antheral running,” portion other portion obtained by CBS News records different constabulary authoritative say, “He’s warring astatine this time.”

All told, according to the MPD, 2 antithetic altercations occurred betwixt Nichols and officers implicit the people of the stop, the second taking spot conscionable blocks from Nichols’s home.

After the stop, Nichols was hospitalised and photographed with terrible bruising and cuts.

He yet died connected 10 January.

An extracurricular autopsy showed his assemblage underwent “extensive bleeding.”

Attorneys for the Nichols household accidental constabulary video of the brushwood shows officers viciously beating Tyre.

“He was a quality piñata for those constabulary officers,” lawyer Antonio Romanucci said of the video.

“(It) is appalling. It is deplorable. It is heinous,” Mr Crump, different lawyer for the family, said.