Things to know about the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols

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Things to know about the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols

2025-05-08 08:09 Last Updated At：08:11

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The acquittal Wednesday of three former Memphis police officers of state charges in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols is the latest development in a case that has prompted calls for police reforms and a continuing quest for justice by his family more than two years after the 29-year-old Black man's death.

An out-of-town jury from a majority-white county took about 8 1/2 hours over two days to find Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith not guilty after a nine-day trial in state court in Memphis, which is majority Black.

Nichols ran away from a chaotic traffic stop after he was yanked out of his car, pepper-sprayed and shot with a Taser in January 2023. Five Black officers caught him and punched, kicked and hit him with a police baton. They struggled to handcuff Nichols as he called out for his mother just steps from his home. Nichols died three days after the beating.

Video captured by officers' body cameras and a police pole camera showed the officers milling about, talking and laughing as Nichols struggled with his injuries.

The ex-officers were acquitted of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. They still face the prospect of years in prison after they were convicted of federal charges in October, even though they also were acquitted of the most serious charges there.

Two other former officers previously pleaded guilty in both state and federal court, including Emmitt Martin, whom defense attorneys blamed for most of the violence.

The state trial jury was chosen in Hamilton County, which includes Chattanooga, after Judge James Jones Jr. ordered the case be heard outside of Shelby County, which includes Memphis. Defense lawyers had argued that intense publicity made seating a fair jury difficult.

In December, the U.S. Justice Department said a 17-month investigation showed the Memphis Police Department uses excessive force and discriminates against Black people.

Tyre Nichols was originally from California, but he moved to Memphis to live with his mother, RowVaughn Wells, and his stepfather Rodney Wells.

Nichols worked with his stepdad at Memphis-based FedEx. Tall and slim, Nichols liked photography and skateboarding. He was on his way home to enjoy a sesame chicken dinner prepared by his mother when he was pulled over in his car by three members of the Memphis Police Department's Scorpion Unit.

The unit targeted drugs, illegal guns and violent offenders to amass arrests, while sometimes using force against unarmed people. It was disbanded shortly after Nichols' death.

According to trial testimony, officers saw Nichols speeding and tried to stop him. Nichols did not pull over for about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers), making it a “high risk” stop in their eyes. He eventually stopped at a red light in a left-turn lane.

Haley and Martin pounced quickly, yanking Nichols out of the car and pulling him to the ground while giving him expletive-filled orders to comply. Nichols told the officers that he didn't do anything, that he just wanted to go home, and that they were “doing a lot right now.”

At one point, Martin said “let go of my gun,” but there was no evidence Nichols actually went for the weapon. Pepper spray was deployed, and the officers were hit. Nichols managed to get away and was shot with a Taser as he ran towards his house.

Bean tackled Nichols from behind. As he and Smith grappled with Nichols, Mills arrived and used more pepper spray. Mills, angry that he sprayed himself, testified that he hit Nichols three times in the arm with a police baton.

Martin kicked and punched Nichols multiple times in the head. Haley kicked Nichols once before he was handcuffed.

Nichols was kept on the ground, seated against a police car. Nichols was left to struggle with his injuries with little or no medical care for 19 minutes before he was taken to a hospital.

Nichols died three days later of blunt force trauma to the head. A medical examiner said Nichols had tears and bleeding in the brain.

Prosecutors argued that the officers used excessive, deadly force in trying to handcuff Nichols and were criminally responsible for each others’ actions.

The officers also had a duty to intervene and stop the beating and tell medical personnel that Nichols had been struck in the head, but they failed to do so, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors relied heavily on the graphic video of the beating to make their case. Jurors were repeatedly shown the video during the trial.

As the officers stood around talking about the beating, Bean said Nichols had been “eating” the blows and Smith said they hit Nichols with “so many pieces,” or punches.

Haley took a cellphone photo of a severely-injured Nichols and shared it 11 times.

Defense attorneys emphasized that it was Martin, not their clients, who kicked and punched Nichols several times in the head. The actions of Bean, Haley and Smith were only meant to get handcuffs on Nichols, they argued.

The defense also seemed to score points with its use-of-force experts, who testified that the officers acted in compliance with police department policies and widely accepted law enforcement standards. Attorneys for Bean and Smith called character witnesses who testified that the men did their job with skill, compassion and honor.

Defense attorneys noted in closing arguments that credit and debit cards that did not belong to Nichols were found in his car and said that was likely why Nichols ran from the traffic stop. The lawyers have argued that the beating would not have happened if Nichols had allowed himself to be handcuffed.

The jury could have convicted the officers on lesser charges including reckless homicide. Right after the verdicts were read, the officers hugged each other and their lawyers.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said he spoke to Nichols’ family and said, “They were devastated. ... I think they were outraged.”

Nichols' family will still see a measure of justice. All five officers face extended time in federal prison, where there is no parole. Mills and Martin also will receive punishment after their guilty pleas in state court, though it may coincide with the length of their federal prison terms.

Meanwhile, the five officers, the city of Memphis and the police chief a re being sued by Nichols’ family for $550 million. A trial has been scheduled for the summer of 2026.

Gunmen kill at least 16 people in attack on Hanukkah celebration on Sydney's Bondi Beach

SYDNEY (AP) — A child is one of at least 16 people killed in an attack in Australia at one of the world’s most famous beaches, officials said Monday.

Hundreds of people had gathered at Bondi Beach in Sydney for an event to celebrate the first day of Hanukkah, when gunmen opened fire.

At least 16 people are dead and 38 others injured in a terrorist attack authorities say was designed to target the Jewish community.

New South Wales Health Minister Ryan Park said the death toll had risen from 12 to 16 overnight, including a 12-year-old child.

Three other children are being treated in hospital, he said.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

SYDNEY (AP) — Two gunmen attacked a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney's Bondi Beach on Sunday, killing at least 11 people in what Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called an act of antisemitic terrorism that struck at the heart of the nation.

The massacre at one of Australia’s most popular beaches followed a wave of antisemitic attacks that have roiled the country over the past year, although the authorities didn’t suggest those and Sunday’s shooting were connected. It is the deadliest shooting in almost three decades in a country with strict gun control laws.

One gunman was fatally shot by police and the second was arrested and in critical condition, authorities said. Police said one gunman was known to security services, but there was no specific threat.

At least 29 people were confirmed wounded, including two police officers, said Mal Lanyon, police commissioner for New South Wales state, where Sydney is located.

Police said officers were examining a number of suspicious items, including improvised explosive devices found in one of the suspect’s car.

“This attack was designed to target Sydney's Jewish community,” New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said.

The violence erupted at the end of a summer day when thousands had flocked to Bondi Beach, including hundreds gathered for the Chanukah by the Sea event celebrating the start of the eight-day Hanukkah festival.

Chabad, an Orthodox Jewish movement that runs outreach around the world and sponsors public events during major Jewish holidays, identified one of the dead as Rabbi Eli Schlanger, assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and an organizer of the event.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of an Israeli citizen, but gave no further details.

Police said emergency services were called to Campbell Parade in Bondi about 6:45 p.m. responding to reports of shots being fired. Video filmed by onlookers showed people in bathing suits running from the water as shots rang out. Separate footage showed two men in black shirts firing with long guns from a footbridge leading to the beach, as sirens wailed and people cried out in the background.

One dramatic clip broadcast on Australian television showed a man appearing to tackle and disarm one of the gunmen, before pointing the man’s weapon at him, then setting the gun on the ground.

Minns called the man, named by relatives to Australian media as fruit shop owner Ahmed al Ahmed, a “genuine hero.”

Arsen Ostrovsky, a lawyer attending the Hanukkah ceremony with his wife and daughters, was grazed in the head by a bullet. Ostrovsky said he moved from Israel to Australia two weeks ago to work for a Jewish advocacy group.

“What I saw today was pure evil, just an absolute bloodbath. Bodies strewn everywhere,” he told The Associated Press in an email from the hospital. “It was like reliving Oct. 7 all over."

"I never thought would be possible here in Australia."

Lachlan Moran, 32, from Melbourne, told the AP he was waiting for his family when he heard shots. He dropped the beer he was carrying and ran.

"I sprinted as quickly as I could," Moran said. He said he heard shooting off and on for about five minutes. “Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running and people were crying and it was just horrible."

Albanese told reporters in the capital, Canberra, that he was “devastated” by the massacre.

“This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith. An act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation,” Albanese said.

He vowed the violence would be met with “a moment of national unity where Australians across the board will embrace their fellow Australians of Jewish faith.”

King Charles III said he and Queen Camilla were “appalled and saddened by the most dreadful antisemitic terrorist attack.” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on X he was horrified, and his “heart is with the Jewish community worldwide.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X: “The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Australia targeting a Jewish celebration. Antisemitism has no place in this world.”

Police in cities around the world, including London, said they would step up security at Jewish sites.

Australia, a country of 28 million people, is home to about 117,000 Jews, according to official figures. Antisemitic incidents, including assaults, vandalism, threats and intimidation, surged more than threefold in the country during the year after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel launched a war on Hamas in Gaza in response, the government's Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal reported in July.

Last year, the country was rocked by antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Synagogues and cars were torched, businesses and homes graffitied and Jews attacked in those cities, where 85% of the nation’s Jewish population lives.

Albanese in August blamed Iran for two of the attacks and cut diplomatic ties to Tehran.

Pastor Matt Graham was conducting a service at Bondi Anglican Church when panicked people began entering for shelter. He said antisemitism has been brewing in Sydney’s eastern suburbs including Bondi, where the Jewish community is centered.

"I’m surrounded by antisemitic graffiti constantly. I think for our community in the east (of Sydney), and as a Christian, I just want to declare I stand with the people of Israel,” Graham told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Israel urged Australia's government to address crimes targeting Jews. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he warned Australia’s leaders months ago about the dangers of failing to take action against antisemitism. He claimed Australia's decision — in line with scores of other countries — to recognize a Palestinian state “pours fuel on the antisemitic fire.”

“Your government did nothing to stop the spread of antisemitism in Australia ... and the result is the horrific attacks on Jews we saw today,” Netanyahu said.

Mass shootings in Australia are extremely rare. A 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to drastically tighten gun laws, making it much more difficult to acquire firearms.

Significant mass shootings this century included two murder-suicides with death tolls of five people in 2014 and seven in 2018, in which gunmen killed their own families and themselves.

In 2022, six people were killed in a shootout between police and Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland state.

McGuirk reported from Melbourne, Australia, and Graham-McLay from Wellington, New Zealand. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Mustakim Hasnath in London contributed to this report.