More about the Tyre Nichols murder. [View all]

[Pete Ross Junior]

Memphis Officer Texted Photo of Tyre Nichols After Beating, New Documents Show
The New York Times

MEMPHIS — As Tyre Nichols sat propped against a police car, bloodied, dazed and handcuffed after being beaten by a group of Memphis police officers, one of those officers took a picture of him and sent it to at least five people, the Memphis Police Department said in documents released by the state on Tuesday.

The documents painted a picture of repeated misconduct by the officers, starting in the first moments after Mr. Nichols was pulled over for a traffic stop, through an arrest carried out with excessive force and continuing on through the many minutes when Mr. Nichols lay on the street in dire need of medical help.

Sending the photograph to acquaintances, including at least one outside of the Police Department, violated policies about keeping information confidential, according to the documents. But police officials said it was also part of a pattern of mocking, abusive and “blatantly unprofessional” behavior by the officers that also included shouting profanities at Mr. Nichols, laughing after the beating and “bragging” about their involvement.

The revelations came in internal affairs documents that the Memphis Police Department sent to a state agency, in which the department asked for the five officers — who have been charged with second-degree murder in Mr. Nichols’s death — to be decertified, meaning they could no longer work as police officers anywhere in the state.

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