More Memphis Police Officers Condemn Policing Tactics As Trial In Tyre Nichols Case Continues

Multiple former Memphis police officers condemned the policing tactics of their own department during high-profile testimony this week in the federal trial against three officers who participated in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols on Jan. 7, 2023, after a traffic stop. One officer spoke about the shame of his involvement in that attack.

Ex-Memphis police officer Emmitt Martin III said he could not “sit here and live with a lie” as prosecutors questioned him on why he decided to plead guilty to violating Nichols’ civil rights. Three of his colleagues did not and now stand trial: Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith and Demetrius Haley are charged with civil rights violations and federal conspiracy charges.

Martin was one of two officers to plead guilty to charges just weeks before the start of the federal trial in Memphis; he pleaded guilty to excessive force and conspiracy to tamper with a witness. Former officer Desmond Mills pleaded guilty to charges of obstruction of justice and excessive force late last year.

“The truth needs to come out. It was eating me up inside,” Martin said on Tuesday, according to WHBQ-TV in Memphis .

Martin admitted to punching Nichols, a 29-year-old Black FedEx worker, several times and then said that Haley gave a “vicious” kick to Nichols and that Nichols looked “disoriented” after the beating, WHBQ reported. Nichols died three days later in a hospital.

Martin also told jurors during questioning that he took off his body camera and threw it on the ground during the assault because he did not want the incident recorded, WHBQ reported.

On Thursday, Kyle Coudriet, a former member of the department’s “Scorpion” unit, which patrolled high-crime “hot spots,” testified that he witnessed both Martin