MEMPHIS (Tennessee, US), Jan 29 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The US city of Memphis on Saturday disbanded the special police unit whose officers fatally beat a young Black man, after graphic video of the assault sparked widespread shock and outrage.
The video, which shows five officers repeatedly kicking and punching 29-year-old Tyre Nichols as he moans and calls out for his mother, triggered calls for police reform amid the anger.
The southern US city on Saturday announced it had deactivated the officers’ special unit, known as Scorpion, which was launched in 2021 to reduce illegal activity by assigning more police to high-crime areas.
The Memphis Police Department said in a statement it was “in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate the SCORPION Unit,” which stands for Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods.
“The officers currently assigned to the unit agree unreservedly with this next step,” the department added.
Several dozen demonstrators called for police reform Saturday afternoon as they gathered in the chilly rain in front of city hall shouting “No justice, no peace!” and carrying signs with slogans such as “Justice for Tyre Nichols.”
The five Memphis officers, who are all Black, were charged with second-degree murder in the beating of Nichols, who died in hospital on Jan 10 three days after being stopped on suspicion of reckless driving.
Despite nationwide calls for police reform following George Floyd’s death and subsequent protests in 2020, the number of people who died during interactions with police hit a 10-year high in 2022, at 1,186 fatalities, according to the website Mapping Police Violence.
Nichols’ family called the disbanding of the Scorpion unit an “appropriate and proportional” response to their relative’s death.
“We must keep in mind that this is just the next step on this journey for justice and accountability, as clearly this misconduct is not restricted to these specialty units,” a statement from the family’s attorneys said Saturday.
Protests in Memphis, Washington, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta and a handful of other cities on Friday evening after the video was released were small and largely peaceful.
In addition to second-degree murder charges, the police officers are facing indictments for aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping. — NNN-AGENCIES
