Washington (AFP) – Jury selection began on Monday in the trial of three former police officers who are accused of violating the civil rights of a Black man who died after being brutally beaten during a traffic stop in the US city of Memphis. Five police officers were charged in connection with the January 2023 death of Tyre Nichols, who was kicked, punched, tased, and pepper sprayed in the Tennessee city of Memphis.
Two of the five officers, all of whom are Black, pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges, while three—Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith—chose to go to trial. About 200 potential jurors were summoned to a downtown Memphis federal courthouse on Monday for the start of jury selection for the trial of Bean, Haley, and Smith, as reported by the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper.
They are accused of witness tampering, violating Nichols’s civil rights by using excessive force, and other offenses. The other two officers, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills, pleaded guilty to similar charges. The officers, members of a since-disbanded special anti-crime squad called the Scorpion Unit, were captured on video beating the 29-year-old Nichols during a January 7, 2023, traffic stop close to his home. He died in hospital three days later.
The five officers also face state charges in connection with Nichols’s death, including second-degree murder. The camera footage of Nichols’s savage beating triggered outrage and demands for police reform. Vice President Kamala Harris attended his funeral, and Nichols’s family members were invited to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address in Washington.
© 2024 AFP
