A Trial Over Tyre Nichols’s Death Begins as Memphis Is in a New Bind

The agonizing footage of Memphis police officers kicking and punching Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old man, during a Jan. 7, 2023, traffic stop horrified the city and the nation.

Fallout was swift: Five officers were fired and charged in connection with Mr. Nichols’s beating and death. The Police Department disbanded the street crime unit the officers belonged to. And the City Council approved a series of new policing ordinances, including one to reduce traffic stops for minor infractions.

But as three of the former officers are set to stand trial for civil rights and obstruction charges in federal court on Monday, there is a sense for some in Memphis that progress has stalled. The city is again embroiled in a standoff with state Republican leaders over its policing and public safety policies, a brewing dispute that lawmakers have threatened to escalate by stripping the city of a share of state sales tax revenues.

And the violence at the center of the charges is also likely to reignite a debate over police tactics and the often brutal treatment of Black men by law enforcement, at a moment when cities and states have left many of their police accountability goals unresolved.

“We’ve been able to grieve a little and heal a little — however, now that this trial is coming up, we’re going to have to relive all of that again,” said RowVaughn Wells, Mr. Nichols’s mother, in an interview. She still has not watched the videos showing what happened to her son.

Mr. Nichols’s stepfather, Rodney Wells, added, “We’ll never fully heal, but justice for Tyre is a step in the right direction.”