Tyre Nichols Body Cam Footage: Charges, Acquittal, and Sentencing

The Tyre Nichols body cam footage, released by the city of Memphis on January 27, 2023, showed five Memphis police officers punching, kicking, pepper-spraying, and striking Nichols with a baton during a traffic stop on January 7, 2023, while he was restrained and offering no resistance. Nichols, 29, died three days after the beating. Three officers were later acquitted of all state charges by a Hamilton County jury, two pleaded guilty in both state and federal court, and federal convictions against the three acquitted officers were vacated in August 2025 and set for a new trial. No officer has been sentenced.

What the Footage Shows

The city released about 67 minutes of footage in four installments, drawn from officers’ body cameras and a pole-mounted surveillance camera near the scene.¹

The video begins with officers from the Memphis Police Department’s SCORPION unit pulling Nichols over for alleged reckless driving. They yank him from the vehicle while shouting profanities and threats. Nichols protests, “I didn’t do anything,” and tells officers, “I am on the ground.” They force him down, deploy pepper spray and a Taser, and threaten to break his arms. Nichols breaks free and runs toward his parents’ home, only blocks away.²

Officers catch him a short distance away. The pole camera captures what follows: a nearly three-minute assault. One officer kicks Nichols in the head twice while others hold him. Another strikes him repeatedly with an expandable baton. A third punches him in the face while his hands are restrained behind his back. Nichols is stumbling and visibly incapacitated. He can be heard crying out for his mother.³²

After the beating, officers prop Nichols against an unmarked police car, bloodied and unresponsive. On camera, they speculate that he is “on something” and boast about the assault while laughing. Some exchange fist bumps and high fives. Roughly ten people are present. No one renders medical aid. Nichols was taken to St. Francis Hospital in critical condition and died on January 10, 2023.³¹

One additional detail emerged from state records: Officer Demetrius Haley used his cellphone to photograph the injured Nichols as he lay motionless and texted the images to several people.¹

How the Footage Contradicted the Officers’ Reports

An Associated Press analysis and a separate New York Times reconstruction identified sharp contradictions between the video and what officers put in their official paperwork. Officers Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, and Preston Hemphill wrote in reports that Nichols “ignored all directives,” swung his arms at them, and reached for an officer’s gun. The video shows none of this. Nichols is heard complying verbally, remains unarmed, and does not act aggressively.³

Several officers described using “soft hands” techniques, meaning escort controls or pressure points with minimal injury risk. The reports left out the kicks, punches, and baton strikes the video plainly captured. A police report filed hours after the encounter classified Nichols as a suspect in an “aggravated assault” and listed Detective Martin as the victim.⁴

Officers also misled Nichols’ family. Lt. Dewayne Smith and Officer Desmond Mills Jr. visited the family’s home and said their son had been arrested for a DUI and was “intoxicated.” Officer Hemphill told Nichols’ mother her son had fought with officers and possessed “unbelievable strength.” None disclosed the beating.³

Public Release and Response

The Nichols family and their attorneys viewed the footage privately on January 23, four days before public release, and urged calm.¹

After the January 27 release, protests took place in Memphis, Los Angeles, New York City, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Detroit, and Atlanta. In Memphis, demonstrators shut down the Interstate 55 bridge over the Mississippi River for nearly three hours. Family attorney Ben Crump compared the footage to the 1991 beating of Rodney King, saying, “Yet again, we’re seeing evidence of what happens to Black and brown people from simple traffic stops.”⁵

Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis called the officers’ actions “heinous, reckless and inhumane” and said they had violated department policies on excessive use of force, duty to intervene, and duty to render aid.⁵

Officers Charged

The Memphis Police Department fired five officers on January 20, 2023: Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith. All had served on the SCORPION unit. Six days later, a Shelby County grand jury indicted all five on state charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct, and official oppression.¹

In September 2023, a federal grand jury added four counts: deprivation of rights under color of law for using unreasonable force and failing to intervene; deprivation of rights for deliberate indifference to Nichols’ serious medical needs; conspiracy to commit witness tampering; and obstruction of justice through witness tampering. The excessive-force and deliberate-indifference counts each carried a maximum sentence of life in prison.⁶

A sixth officer, Preston Hemphill, was involved in the initial stop and deployed his Taser but was not present at the beating. His body camera captured him saying twice, “I hope they stomp his ass.” He was fired on February 3, 2023, for violating department policies on personal conduct, truthfulness, and Taser usage. The Shelby County District Attorney declined to file criminal charges against him, stating that charges were not provable beyond a reasonable doubt.⁷

Lt. Dewayne Smith, the supervisor who arrived after the beating without a body camera, retired on March 1, 2023, one day before his scheduled disciplinary hearing, keeping his benefits. The city then asked the state to decertify him. He was not criminally charged.⁸

State Trial and Acquittal

Desmond Mills Jr. and Emmitt Martin III pleaded guilty to state charges and agreed to testify against the others.⁹¹⁰ Bean, Haley, and Smith went to trial in Memphis on seven state counts each, including second-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping. The trial ran nine days.

Prosecutors leaned on the video and called five witnesses. The chief medical examiner testified that Nichols’ injuries were consistent with those seen in fatal car crashes. Former EMT Robert Long testified that officers failed to tell first responders Nichols had been punched and kicked, telling them only that the suspect appeared to be on drugs.¹¹

The defense called 17 witnesses, argued Nichols was resisting by refusing to present his hands for handcuffing, and pointed at Martin, who had already pleaded guilty, as responsible for the fatal injuries. A defense expert conceded on cross-examination that punches and kicks to the head were “unnecessary, excessive and an example of deadly force,” while maintaining some actions were attempts to facilitate handcuffing.¹² None of the three defendants testified.

On May 7, 2025, after roughly eight and a half hours of deliberation across two days, an all-white jury from Hamilton County found Bean, Haley, and Smith not guilty on all counts.¹³¹¹

Federal Convictions Vacated

Before the federal trial, Mills pleaded guilty on November 2, 2023, to using excessive force, failing to intervene, and conspiring to cover up the unlawful force. He admitted to striking Nichols with a baton, failing to alert EMTs to his medical needs, and submitting a false report claiming Nichols was “aggressively resisting.” Prosecutors recommended a sentence of no more than 15 years.¹⁴ Martin also pleaded guilty to federal charges of violating Nichols’ civil rights causing death and conspiracy to witness tamper. Both testified against their former colleagues.¹⁵

The federal trial of Bean, Haley, and Smith concluded on October 3, 2024. The jury convicted Haley on all counts. Bean and Smith were each convicted of one count of witness tampering but acquitted of the more serious civil rights charges. The jury found all three had provided false information to supervisors, including fabricated claims that Nichols resisted arrest, grabbed officer belts, and lifted officers into the air.¹⁶

Those convictions did not stand. Days after the verdict, a law clerk to the trial judge, U.S. District Judge Mark Norris, was shot during a carjacking. Judge Norris later expressed frustration to federal prosecutors, and in a May 2025 meeting suggested that one of the Nichols defendants was a gang member whose gang may have been responsible for shooting his clerk. He also stated that the Memphis Police Department was “infiltrated to the top with gang members.”¹⁷ Prosecutors disclosed the comments to the defense. Norris recused himself in June 2025, days before sentencing.

On August 28, 2025, Chief U.S. District Judge Sheryl H. Lipman vacated the convictions and ordered a new federal trial. She ruled the risk of judicial bias was “too high to be constitutionally tolerable” and that judicial bias constitutes structural error not subject to harmless-error analysis.¹⁵¹⁸ Because Bean and Smith were acquitted of the serious civil rights counts in the first trial, they cannot be recharged on those counts; only the witness-tampering convictions can be retried. Haley faces retrial on all counts. As of early 2026, no new trial date had been set, and the officers’ cross-appeals were dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.¹⁹

Sentencing Status

As of 2026, none of the five officers has been sentenced. Mills and Martin, who pleaded guilty in both federal and state courts, had federal sentencing hearings scheduled for late 2025. Those dates were canceled or delayed pending the new trial proceedings for Bean, Haley, and Smith.²⁰²¹

The SCORPION Unit and EMT Firings

All five charged officers belonged to the SCORPION unit, an acronym for Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods. The unit launched in November 2021 with 40 officers in four teams, patrolling high-crime areas for auto thefts, gang-related crimes, and drug offenses.²² CBS News reported that unit training consisted of three days of PowerPoint presentations, one day of criminal apprehension instruction, and one day at a firing range. Chief Davis said a “lack of supervision in this incident was a major problem.”²³ On January 28, 2023, one day after the footage was released, the Memphis Police Department permanently deactivated the unit.²⁴

The Memphis Fire Department fired three members for their response at the scene: EMT Robert Long, Advanced EMT JaMicheal Sandridge, and Lt. Michelle Whitaker. State licensing documents detailed that Long and Sandridge failed to provide basic emergency care for 19 minutes, including failing to check vital signs, provide oxygen, establish an IV, or place him on a heart monitor. The Tennessee Emergency Medical Services Board suspended Long’s and Sandridge’s licenses on February 3, 2023. None of the three faced criminal charges.²⁵²⁶

Civil Lawsuit and Federal Investigation

In April 2023, Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, filed a $550 million federal civil lawsuit against the City of Memphis, Chief Davis, and ten current and former city employees. The city argued the amount could bankrupt it, noting it exceeded the $27 million settlement in the George Floyd case. As of April 2026, Wells had dropped the five former officers as defendants to protect a November 9, 2026 trial date and was in the process of removing Chief Davis. The case against the City of Memphis remains active.²⁷

The Department of Justice opened a pattern-or-practice investigation into the Memphis Police Department. The 17-month probe concluded in December 2024 with findings that officers “routinely use unwarranted force,” disproportionately targeted Black residents, and frequently used force against handcuffed people, and that supervisors “nearly always” approved excessive-force incidents after the fact. Memphis Mayor Paul Young declined to sign a consent decree. In May 2025, under a change in federal policy, the DOJ closed the investigation and formally retracted its findings of constitutional violations.²⁸²⁹

1
ABC News. Tyre Nichols Timeline of Investigation and Death
2
BBC News. Tyre Nichols: What the Footage of His Arrest Shows
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AP News. Tyre Nichols Police Body Cam Footage Analysis
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New York Times. Memphis Officers and Tyre Nichols
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NPR. Tyre Nichols Memphis Police Body Cam Video
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U.S. Department of Justice. Five Former Memphis Police Officers Charged With Federal Civil Rights Conspiracy and Obstruction
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ABC News. White Officer Preston Hemphill in Tyre Nichols Case Not Charged
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WREG. Police Supervisor in Tyre Nichols Case Retired a Day Before Hearing
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CNN. Tyre Nichols Memphis Officers Sentencing
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WREG. Federal Sentencing Dates Set for Officers in Tyre Nichols Case
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Action News 5. Jury Finds Ex-Officers Not Guilty on All Counts
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Court TV. TN v. Bean et al. – Beating of Tyre Nichols Murder Trial
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New York Times. Tyre Nichols State Trial Officers Acquitted
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U.S. Department of Justice. Former Memphis Police Officer Pleads Guilty to Federal Civil Rights and Conspiracy Charges
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NPR. Trial of Memphis Police Officers in Tyre Nichols Case
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U.S. Department of Justice. Three Former Memphis Police Officers Convicted of Federal Felonies Related to Death of Tyre Nichols
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New York Times. Tyre Nichols Federal Trial
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NBC News. 3 Officers Ordered New Trials in Death of Tyre Nichols
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WREG. Court Appeals Dismissed for Officers in Tyre Nichols Case
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Action News 5. Plea Deal Sentencing Delayed for Ex-Cops Who Testified Against Former Colleagues
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BBC News. Judge Orders Retrial for Ex-Officers in Tyre Nichols Case
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ABC News. SCORPION Unit Memphis Police Task Force
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PBS NewsHour. Police Special Units Like the One That Killed Tyre Nichols Are Common
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NPR. Memphis Police Have Disbanded the SCORPION Unit That Fatally Beat Tyre Nichols
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WBAL-TV. Documents Detail EMT Failure to Aid Tyre Nichols
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PBS NewsHour. Medical Licenses Suspended for 2 Fired EMTs in Tyre Nichols Death
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WREG. Five Former Officers in Tyre Nichols Case Removed From $550 Million Civil Lawsuit
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PBS NewsHour. Memphis Won’t Sign Police Reform Agreement With DOJ
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Commercial Appeal. Trump DOJ Ends Memphis Police Investigation