MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Police officers violated protocol when they used excessive force against Tyre Nichols and overstated his actions, a former officer who has pleaded guilty in the case testified.
Emmitt Martin III, who initiated the traffic stop against Nichols, said in federal court Monday that Nichols never posed a threat and that officers downplayed their own actions during the Jan. 7, 2023 encounter, which led to Nichols’ brutal beating and subsequent death.
Martin testified he was angry that night because he hadn’t yet made an arrest, but then he noticed Nichols driving a little fast as a traffic light was turning red and saw him changing lanes without signaling.
Although a check of Nichols’ license plate number indicated there were no warrants for his arrest nor was he a violent offender, Martin radioed fellow members of a Memphis police anti-violence unit on a private channel that they needed to make a felony stop.
“Because I exaggerated what he had done … and it escalated,” Martin said, adding that officers violated protocol by pursuing a nonviolent offender.
Former Memphis police officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith have pleaded not guilty to charges they deprived Nichols, 29, of his rights through excessive force and failure to intervene, and obstructed justice through witness tampering.
Martin, the first former officer to testify at their trial, and Desmond Mills Jr., have pleaded guilty to the federal charges.
All five were fired for violating Memphis Police Department policies. They had been members of a crime suppression unit called Scorpion, or Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods, which was disbanded after Nichols’ death.
Martin, nicknamed “Full Can” by colleagues after he once used an entire can of pepper spray on a suspect, testified it was his first week back on the job after being off for about six weeks because he was struck by a car while working.
When asked by prosecutor Kathryn Gilbert how he felt about returning, Martin responded, “I was nervous. I wanted some kind of revenge. I was seeing red.”
After Nichols was stopped, Martin said Haley brandished his gun and told Nichols to “get the f— out of the car.” Martin then pulled out his gun before Haley snatched Nichols from the car.
Nichols, who was Black, died in a hospital three days after he was kicked, punched and hit with a police baton during the traffic stop.
Harrowing video showed Nichols being beaten with batons, pepper sprayed and kicked in the face, while calling for his mother about a block away from home.
The fatal encounter reignited calls for police reform and charges against the officers.
An autopsy report said Nichols’ death was a homicide caused by blows to the head that resulted in brain injuries and cuts and bruises.
Rebecca Byrd reported from Memphis, Tenn., and Deon J. Hampton from Denver.
