One of the officers who arrested Tyre Nichols (left) took photos of his body and shared them with at least six people (Picture: AP/Reuters)
One of the police officers who arrested and beat Tyre Nichols, who later died from his injuries, took photos of the unarmed victim and sent them to at least six people.
Demetrius Haley, one of the five Memphis Police Department officers charged with murder for Nichols’ death on January 10, stood over the victim’s bloody body and took photos with his phone camera.
Investigators say Haley texted those photos to at least six other people – including two more police officers, a civilian employee of the police department, and a female acquaintance.
A total of 13 Memphis police officers could face disciplinary action, including the other officers fired and charged with murder – Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith, Desmond Mills Jr, and Emmitt Martin III.
The officers who were charged with Tyre Nichols’ murder, from top left: Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr and Justin Smith (Credits: AP)
Additionally, a sixth officer was fired and a seventh was relieved of duty.
The incident was exposed in Tennessee Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission decertification letters signed by Memphis Police Commissioner Cerelyn ‘CJ’ Davis, which prevent any of the five officers from working in law enforcement again.
The documents shed more light on hat happened the night of Nichols’ death, and during the investigation immediately following the incident.
‘You exited the unmarked vehicle stopped in an opposing traffic lane and you forced the driver out of his vehicle while using loud profanity and wearing a black sweatshirt hoodie over your head,’ Haley’s decertification letter reads. ‘You never told the driver the purpose of the vehicle stop or that he as under arrest.’
Body camera footage shows the moment when officers grabbed Tyre Nichols out of his car in Memphis (Picture: via REUTERS)
The letter also says Haley was on an active phone call with a non-officer while he was arresting Nichols.
It continues: ‘You and the other officers were captured on body-worn cameras making multiple unprofessional comments such as ‘that motha****er made me spray myself,’ laughing, and bragging about your involvement.
The documents also say Haley and the other officers lied when they told investigators that Nichols reached for Emmitt Martin’s service weapon. ‘Audio from a body-worn camera did not capture the driver using profanity or displaying any violent threats.’
According to the documents, only one of the charged officers, Justin Smith, provided an official written statement. Smith told the investigators that he was supposed to be on desk duty that day and said that he was the only officer to call for medical treatment.
‘Even though no one else requested medical assistance, I immediately made a radio call that medical should be sent,’ Smith wrote.
However, Smith also stated that ‘the suspect was violent and would not comply,’ which is easily proven false by the footage released by the Memphis Police Department.
Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected]. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.
The cop sent the photos to two more police officers, a civilian employee of the police department, and a female acquaintance.
