Cops 'beat another black man' three days before Tyre Nichols' murder

Ex-cops charged with Tyre Nichols’ murder are now accused of brutally beating another black man, 22, just three days earlier

• Monterrious Harris says he was beaten by cops just miles from Nichols’ beating
• The members of Memphis’ SCORPION unit were all fired after Nichols’ murder

The former cops charged with the murder of Tyre Nichols have now been accused of beating another black man just three days earlier.  

Monterrious Harris, 22, says he was beaten by same former policemen on Outland Road in Hickory Hill on January 4, just a few miles from where Nichols was stopped. 

Members of Memphis Police Department’s SCORPION unit Tadarrious Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Justin Smith and Desmond Mills Jr, were all fired due to their involvement in Nichols’ death. 

The five are also listed on the arrest affidavit for Harris’ incident. 

A police report states that Harris was arrested for driving towards detectives in his car and backing up at high speed, before attempting to flee the scene.  

Monterrious Harris (pictured, with injuries), 22, says he was beaten by same former policemen charged with the murder of Tyre Nichols

Tyre Nichols, pictured, was beaten to death by officers on January 7 and died three days later from his injuries in hospital

Charged with second degree murder are (top, left to right) Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, and (bottom, left to right) Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith

But the 22-year-old said he was approached by officers who threatened to shoot him if he didn’t leave his car, beat him and slammed his head into the concrete. 

The alleged attack on January 4 would have occurred just three days before 29-year-old Tyre Nichols was beaten by the same five officers. Nichols died in hospital three days after the violent confrontation. 

The five officers have since been charged with second-degree murder, assault, kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression and fired from their jobs – while the SCORPION unit has been disbanded. 

Now Monterrious Harris says he was waiting for his cousin by the Twin Oak Apartments when the cops also approached him. 

He said the cops, who were wearing ski masks, ‘came out of nowhere’ as he initially thought he was being robbed before he spotted the officer’s vest, Local Memphis reported. 

One officer banged on the window of his Chrysler 300 and the rest surrounded him. One threatened to shoot him if he didn’t get out of the car. 

Harris said: ‘I was scared like I didn’t know what to expect. After they already had me detained and stuff, they kept saying how they wanted to air my car out. 

‘One officer was laughing at the other officer like, “Oh you’ve got your red beam on.” He was like “yes, I was ready to shoot him.”‘

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ns6mCwvd6R0%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1%26hl%3Den-US

Harris’s arrest warrant lists the same five cops that three days later beat Tyre Nichols

According to Harris, one officer grabbed him and hit him ‘a couple times’ while the others ‘closed in on me’.

A cop even slammed his head and punched him in the face, he alleges. 

They only stopped beating him when he shouted out for his cousin and neighbours came outside. 

Harris was taken to a criminal justice center before being taken to hospital and then being released back into police custody. 

The police report accuses him of evading arrest, possession of a controlled substance, a convicted felon in possession of a handgun – which Harris says belonged to his cousin. 

He has launched a federal lawsuit to sue the city of Memphis and its police department. 

Lawyers on behalf of Harris at Spence Partners Law said: ‘We filed a lawsuit because we believe we can prove that there’s a policy and custom in MPD in which they violate the rights of young Black men like Monterrious.’ 

Harris said: ‘Know your rights, for one, because these officers just do things and take action because they don’t expect you to know.’ 

The alleged attack was just three days before Tyre Nichols was fatally beaten by the same cops. 

A harrowing video showed Nichols crying out for his mother as he is pinned to the ground by multiple officers, pepper sprayed in the face, kicked and punched in the head, while struck with a metal baton.

Police hit him at least nine times during the nearly five minute altercation, just 80 yards from his home, as they continued to scream profanities at him.

The brutal timeline of Tyre Nichols’s murder is pictured above – he had to wait nearly half an  hour on the pavement for any significant medical treatment 

Then, even after paramedics arrived, Nichols had to wait for nearly half an hour slumped over the pavement for any significant medical treatment.

Eventually, he was transported to a local hospital, where he would succumb to his injuries three days later.

In its first few months of existence, between October 2021 and January 23, 2022, SCORPION made 566 arrests. 

Founded in October 2021 due to pressure over rising crime, SCORPION stands for Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in our Neighborhoods. Its mandate is to stem homicides, assaults and robberies.

Memphis officials have said the unit comprises about 40 officers in four teams concentrating on crime hot spots.

The Nichols case has raised concerns that the unit strayed from its core mission, had inadequate oversight and used tactics that increased the risk of violence. 

It is not the fist time such units have faced scrutiny.

In 2020, following the police murder of George Floyd, New York City dismantled its Anti-Crime Unit, which operated with similar tactics and goals as SCORPION.

Last January, amid soaring violent crime, the Anti-Crime Unit was restricted weeks after Mayor Eric Adams, a former NYPD captain, took office vowing to get tough on crime.

Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis last month announced a review of all of the police department’s specialized units including SCORPION in response to Nichols’ death. She called the incident ‘heinous, reckless and inhumane.’

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