Tire Nichols police report disagrees with video of violent stop before his death

A Memphis police report on Tyre Nichols’ road stop depicts him as violent and aggressive and says he tried to snatch a gun from an officer, contradicting multiple videos released by authorities.

NBC News obtained the contents of the report, which was not made public. A Memphis police spokesman on Wednesday said he was unavailable and did not respond to additional questions about the report.

A Shelby County spokesman said District Attorney Steve Mulroy has a report with the same description of the events, and the Memphis Police Department is expected to release an official report within a few days.

A spokesman for the district attorney said there were questions from other officers at the scene and the possibility of a false report, and that the district attorney is looking into all of these issues.

Nichols, a 29-year-old amateur photographer and skateboarder, died three days after he was severely beaten by police during a stop on January 7.

Five fired Memphis cops were charged with second-degree murder and their Scorpion unit was permanently deactivated. Two other Memphis police officers were also relieved of duty, and the Memphis Fire Department fired three ambulance crews after the attack on Nichols.

The report does not mention that officers were repeatedly kicked and punched, which can be seen in a video released by Memphis last week.

“Tyre Nichols grabbed by Detective Martin’s gun”

The police report, which appears to have been written about eight hours after the traffic stop, states that Nichols was pulled over for reckless driving.

He was driving fast and the car swerved into oncoming traffic, the report said. According to the report, the detective asked Nichols to get out of the car, but he refused to cooperate.

“Suspect Tyre Nichols refused lawful detention by law enforcement officers and started a fight with detectives. Detectives noticed suspect Tyre Nichols was sweating profusely and was furious as he got out of the car,” the report said. “The detectives gave verbal commands to stop resisting, and then the suspect Tyre Nichols grabbed Detective Martin’s gun.”

The report states that an officer sprayed Nichols with an irritant and another officer used a stun gun that hit Nichols in the torso but had no effect. Nichols pulled out the probes of the stun gun and ran, the report said.

The report said the police caught up with Nichols, who remained intractable and aggressive.

“He began to actively resist, pulling on the duty belts and grabbing Officer Smith by the vest. He was given several commands to stop resistance, which he ignored,” the report says. “The chemical agent was deployed again and it was ineffective. Detective Mills used his department’s ASP baton while issuing verbal commands to stop resisting, hitting his right arm several times in an attempt to force suspect Tyre Nichols into submission.”

The report lists Nichols as the suspect and Martin, the detective, as the victim, and lists the crime as aggravated assault.

It does not state that the officers repeatedly punched and kicked Nichols in the head and face, although they do so in the traffic stop video.

Post not supported by video

The body camera video shows the arriving officer at the bus stop pointing a gun. Another yells, “You’re going to get the fuck out.”

As seen in the video, Nichols is pulled out of the car by an officer.

Several officers circle him while he is on the ground, shouting sometimes conflicting commands.

Nichols tells the officers, “I’m on the ground!” before he appears to have been sprayed with a chemical irritant, as seen in the video.

Nichols escaped from the hands of the officers and ran to his mother’s area. Other body camera footage and a police surveillance camera mounted on a pole show officers chasing him and then punching and kicking him repeatedly in the face. He was also hit with a club.

The video shows Nichols being attacked about 80 yards from his mother’s home while calling for her help.

Staff suspended, fired, charged

The five police officers were fired on January 20 after an administrative investigation found they violated the department’s policy on the use of force. The officers, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith, were hired from 2017 to 2020.

They were charged with second-degree murder, two counts of misconduct in office, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, one count of official harassment, and one count of aggravated assault.

Lawyers for Mills and Martin said their clients plan to plead not guilty.

A spokesman for the Memphis Police Association’s enlisted officers’ union could not be contacted for comment.

This week, the police announced the dismissal of two more police officers. Preston Hemphill, who was present at the scene and whose body camera was made public, was named as the officer who fired the stun gun. The seventh officer was also relieved of his post. The name of this officer was not released by the police.

Hemphill’s attorney, Lee Gerald, confirmed on Monday that his client was at the bus stop and activated the body camera.

He said the officer was never present at the scene where five officers charged with second-degree murder and other crimes were beating Nichols.

Three paramedics who arrived at the scene were fired on Monday, according to the Memphis Fire Department.

Robert Long, JaMichael Sandridge and Lieutenant Michelle Whitaker were found to have violated several department policies and protocols in their response to patients, the fire department said in a statement.

Long, Whitaker and Sandridge did not respond to requests for comment.

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