Tyre Nichols died of blunt trauma after police beating: Autopsy
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Tyre Nichols, a Black American who was beaten by five police officers has been found to have died of blunt trauma.
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The former Memphis police officers accused of murder in the death of Tyre Nichols appear with their attorneys at an indictment hearing at the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center on February 17, 2023, in Memphis, Tennessee, the United States (AP)
Tyre Nichols, a Black US civilian who was brutally beaten to death by five Memphis police officers earlier in the year, was found to have died due to blunt force trauma, an autopsy report revealed by attorneys Benjamin Crump and Tony Rmanucci in a joint statement said on Thursday.
The Memphis police released four videos practically convicting five former Memphis police officers for committing police brutality against Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, when they beat him to death after a January 7 traffic stop.
Nichols died three days later on January 10, and weeks later, all five officers involved in his murder were arrested and charged.
Graphic footage released in the aftermath showed three police officers trying to handcuff Nichols after dragging him out of his car and throwing him against the ground. He was shown to have escaped arrest in the first altercation, but police officers managed to catch up with him in a nearby neighborhood.
"The legal team representing the family of Tyre Nichols acknowledges the release of the medical examiner's report, the contents of which are highly consistent with our own reporting back in January of this year," the joint statement said.
"We know now what we knew then. Tyre Nichols died from blunt force trauma and the manner of death was homicide," it further read.
The official autopsy report further propels their commitment to seek justice for Nichols, the attorney argued.
The Ben Crump law firm said Nichols' family is suing the city of Memphis, the Memphis Police Department, and Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis for $550 million.
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In a second altercation, police officers were once again struggling to handcuff Nichols before they brutally kicked and beat him with a baton.
Nichols fell to the ground eventually after receiving numerous blows to the head, though it remains unclear if he was unconscious at this time.
Later on, the footage showed several other offices arriving at the scene and administering medical attention to Nichols. However, the video showed that it took the police about 20 minutes to get the brutalized man into an ambulance.
After the video's release, small crowds of protesters gathered in various towns across the United States, from Memphis to the West coast. The incident also gave rise to the discussion of abolishing the police, a liberal and leftist talking point in the US that perceives the police as a form of oppression and a force of evil.
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Supporters of the movement believe that communities should provide protection for themselves without a mandate from the state or centralizing power in the hands of certain state apparatuses. The movement is described as anarchist by certain parties.
All five former Memphis police officers indicted in connection to Nichols' death were released on bond, Shelby County Jail records showed as people are demanding accountability.
Former officers Demetrius Haley and Emmitt Martin were each released on $350,000 bonds, jail records show, while Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith, and Desmond Mills Jr. were released on $250,000 bonds. A sixth officer, Preston Hamphill, has been fired for also being involved in a policy violation.
Read next: Memphis officers plead not guilty in Tyre Nichols' case, court pending
The incident saw the US drawing parallels between Nichols and Rodney King, a motorist who was brutally assaulted by the police, and whose beating sparked large-scale demonstrations that set Los Angeles, California, ablaze and led to some $1 billion in damages.
