Source: Lucy Garrett / Getty
The murder of Tyre Nichols was one of many that set the public ablaze over the past few years. Today, according to ABCNews, we get new information about what took place the day police took his life and circumstances that were revealed in the subsequent investigation.
The city of Memphis has publicly released hundreds of pages of reports that document witness statements speaking to Tyre’s condition after the five officers spend 3 minutes beating him unrelentingly, “Dude wasn’t budging … I was like, ’Oh my god, I think he’s dead’”. The witness continued:
“It just bothered me that everybody was standing out in the street. Had no care in the world that this guy was laying here.” Previously released video shows officers and other first responders milling about and chatting as Nichols lay slumped on the ground.
Personnel files note that the officer who was allowed to escape professional reprimand, Lt. Dewayne Smith, was arrested in 1999 for drunkenly threatening his wife and their children. Seems to us that any cop who is known to behave this way should be immediately fired. That would have saved Tyre’s life 24 years later.
The initial false police report was also included in the newly released series of documents. Despite the fact that the body camera video fully debunks the unmitigated lies that these officers told in order to cover their asses, the report shows a level of malintent and possibly evidence of habit of this type of violence against citizens.
It only took Internal Affairs three hours to review the body camera footage and report the violent violations to the Memphis PD brass. Deputy Chief Paul Wright approved the terminations within minutes.
To their credit, this is the right step forward for not only the city of Memphis but police departments across America. Police officials should be running to the press as fast as they possibly can to release information that shows good will to the public.
“We understand the importance of releasing these documents to the public. This release represents our commitment to transparency,” Mayor Paul Young said in a statement.
We hope someone takes notice and continues the transparency trend.
