Memphis disbands police unit in fatal beating; more protests expected

By Maria Cardona and Diane Bartz

MEMPHIS, Tenn., Jan 28 (Reuters) – The specialized
police unit that included least some of the Memphis officers
involved in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols was disbanded on
Saturday, the police department announced, as more protests were
planned in U.S. cities a day after harrowing video of the attack
was released.

In a statement, the department said it was permanently
deactivating the SCORPION unit after the police chief spoke with
members of Nichols’ family, community leaders and other
officers.

Video recordings from police body-worn cameras and a camera
mounted on a utility pole showed Nichols, a 29-year-old Black
man, repeatedly calling “Mom!” as officers kicked, punched and
struck him with a baton in his mother’s neighborhood after a
Jan. 7 traffic stop. He was hospitalized and died of his
injuries three days later.

The release of the clips on Friday sparked protests in
Memphis and elsewhere and prompted numerous cities to prepare
for additional demonstrations on Saturday.

Nichols’ family and officials, including President Joe
Biden, have expressed outrage and sorrow but have urged
protesters to remain peaceful. Demonstrations so far have been
free of violence.

Five officers involved in the beating, all Black, were
charged on Thursday with murder, assault, kidnapping and other
charges. All have been dismissed from the department.

In Memphis on Saturday, protesters chanting, “Whose streets?
Our streets!” angrily catcalled a police car that was monitoring
the march, with several making obscene gestures. Some cheered
loudly when they learned of the disbandment of SCORPION.

The unit, the Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in
our Neighborhoods, was formed in October 2021 to concentrate on
crime hot spots. Critics say such specialized teams can be prone
to abusive tactics.

Taken together, the four video clips showed police pummeling
Nichols even though he appeared to pose no threat. The initial
traffic stop was for reckless driving, though the police chief
has said the cause for the stop has not been substantiated.

Friends and family say Nichols was an affable, talented
skateboarder who grew up in Sacramento, California, and moved to
Memphis before the coronavirus pandemic. The father of a
4-year-old child, Nichols worked at FedEx and had recently
enrolled in a photography class.

Nate Spates Jr., 42, was part of a circle of friends,
including Nichols, who met up at a local Starbucks.

“He liked what he liked, and he marched to the beat of his
own drum,” Spates said, remembering that Nichols would go to a
park called Shelby Farms to watch the sunset when he wasn’t
working a late shift.

Nichols’ death is the latest high-profile example of police
using excessive force against Black people and other minorities.
The 2020 murder of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a
white Minneapolis officer knelt on his neck for more than nine
minutes, galvanized worldwide protests over racial injustice.
(Reporting by Maria Cardona in Memphis, Tennessee, and Diane
Bartz in Washington; Writing by Joseph Ax; Editing by Cynthia
Osterman)