The Scorpion Police Unit of Memphis, Tennessee, is currently under speculation of black racist murder following the death of Tyre Nichols on January 10, 2023. Three days prior to the death, on January 7, 2023, Nichols had faced a traffic stop by the Memphis Police Department. Five officers are accused of the murder of Nichols. The accused officers of the murder are Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Justin Smith, and Desmond Mills Jr.
The five of them are indicted with charges of one count of second-degree murder, one count of aggravated assault, 2 counts of aggravated kidnapping, 2 counts of official misconduct, and one count of official oppression. All five of the officers were fired by the department because they were found guilty and due to the rising public outrage. The involvement of more officers is suspected as the final report from the authorities is being awaited by all.
On the day immediately after the incident, January 8, 2023, the Memphis Police department stated that the traffic stop was due to the reckless manner in which Tyre Nichols had driven the vehicle. Although yesterday, January 27, 2023, the chief of the Memphis police in a public statement disclosed that in the footage of Nichols’ driving, he has not come across any instance in the driving that would demand a traffic stop.
As per the reports, after pulling over Nichols, the police officers and Nichols had a dispute which led to the authorities using pepper spray, and a taser, an electroshock weapon in order to incapacitate Nichols. Nichols, who miraculously managed to escape from the captivity of the police and ran on foot was caught again by the police officers at a short distance. In the continued interaction the officers punched and kicked on the face area of Nichols and hit him with a baton. Even though Nichols was brought to St. Francis Hospital he did not survive.
The chief of the police has issued an order to evaluate all special units within the Police Department.
Scorpion is a special unit within the Department of Police with 50 members that functions with a mission to decelerate the crime rates and crime levels in some specific regions. Scorpion is an acronym for the operation titled Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods. A separate unit was employed as Scorpion in 2021 October focusing on crime hot spots and specializing in crimes that can cause moderately extreme impacts such as car or vehicle thefts, and serious offenses by criminal gangs. The Scorpion unit also handled cases such as house break-ins, robberies, homicides, physical, mental, economical, and related assaults, and other felonies.
Jim Strickland, the Mayor of Memphis city in a 2022 public speech acknowledged the success of the unit citing the total of 566 arrests out of which 390 were felony arrests, and the seized cash of 103,000 US Dollars.
The Mayor of the recent incident said that it was clear that the fired officers had violated the policies and training of the department. He continued and assured the people that the government would do everything to prevent such an incident from taking place again in the future. He reported that since the incident of Nichols’ death, the Scorpion has been removed from all its power positions for an indefinite period of time and was having an inactive status. He also disclosed that there were moves to initiate an outside, independent, review of the training, policies, and operations of the specialized law enforcing units of the city.
Steve Mulroy, the District Attorney of Shelby County, regarding the incident mentioned that the Scorpion unit was involved but did not specify the number of members associated.
Must Read: Tyre Nichols Murder: A Timeline Of Events
Cerelyn CJ Davis, the Chief of the Memphis Police confirmed the involvement of the Scorpion unit in the traffic stop. He said that the initial reason for the launch of such a unit was due to the three-year prolonged outcry by the public and authorities on the day-by-day increasing, persisting, and uncontrollable violence in the city. He added that the unit had a goal to bring the numbers of violent crimes, robberies, homicides, and aggravated assaults under control; and to bring down the number of violence caused by guns. He further said that in 2021 there were 346 reported cases of homicides. Davis said that he considers the incident of death as an indication of the presence of a gap somewhere inside the unit and said that he and the department were so far unaware of any other similar incidents have happened before this. He concluded that an investigation to enquire whether any similar accident has happened before has been initiated.
Tyre Deandre Nichols was a 29-year-old man of African – American descent. He was brought up in Sacramento in California. He had moved to Memphis, Tennessee, around 2 and a half years back in 2020 and was working at FedEx. Nichols has a 4-year-old son. At the time of his death, he was suffering from Crohn’s disease, a disease that causes inflammation in the bowels, and had condition of being underweight. According to the primary autopsy reports the cause of Nichol’s death is stated as due to extensive bleeding caused by a brutal beating.
Nichol’s family is fighting for justice with the attorney Antonio Romanucci. Romanucci said viewed that the original intent of the Scorpion special unit has been corrupted. He weighed in that it cannot be brought back to the center with any sense of morality, dignity, and trust in the community. He said that more important as to be given to the trust the community of people has in the police unit.
Video footage of Tyre Nichols being pulled over, confronted, attacked, chased, and beaten up has been made publicly available on the internet. After being caught post-chasing him Tyre Nichols was seen not responding to the police beatings and having difficulty in breathing.
Joe Biden, the President of the United States of America has asked the people to stay calm while the case progresses.
