Police stopped Mr. Nichols, a FedEx worker and photographer, 29 years old, on the evening of January 7 as he was driving along a street near his mother’s house. Officers reported that he was driving recklessly, although the sheriff said the department could find no evidence of that.
Mr. Haley and other officers approached Mr. Nichols’ vehicle, with at least one officer pointing a gun at the vehicle. Mr Haley, shouting profanities, dragged Mr Nichols out of the car while officers shouted conflicting orders and threatened to injure him. “You guys are really doing a lot right now,” Mr. Nichols said as he lay on the sidewalk. “I was just trying to get home.”
When Mr. Haley was about to spray pepper spray in Mr. Nichols’ face, Mr. Nichols got up and fled when another officer shot a Taser at him. Minutes later, a group of police officers caught up with him — less than 100 yards from his mother’s house — and beat him repeatedly for nearly three minutes.
Mr. Haley arrived at the scene that second after police found Mr. Nichols and was absent for most of the assault. When he arrived, officers were in the process of handcuffing Mr. Nichols, who was groaning in pain, and pinning him to the ground in a prone position. Even so, Mr Haley ran forward and delivered a powerful kick to Mr Nichols’ head or upper body.
Mr. Nichols was covered in blood on the concrete, and he fell repeatedly after officers picked him up next to a police car.
His death sparked protests in several cities after the videos were released and the Memphis Police Department said it was disbanding the unit to which the officers had been assigned. Called Scorpion, it was created to target neighborhoods with high crime rates. The department also suspended two officers, one of whom shot Taser at Mr. Nichols as he fled. Then, as the officer’s body-worn camera continued to roll, the officer said, “I hope they’ll stomp his ass.”
At the panel hearing, Sheriff Davis said that seven other officers face disciplinary action, who have not been identified, including some who were not actually present at the scene of the assault. . She said the department had struggled with a lack of supervisory staff, saying it was a bigger problem than training and that the department had been short of senior officers for years.
