The unit, Street Crime Operations to restore peace in our neighbourhoods, was formed in October 2021 to focus on crime hot spots. Critics say that such elite teams can fall prey to offensive tactics.
Taken together, the four video clips showed police beating Nichols even though he was not a threat. The initial traffic stop was for reckless driving, although the police chief has said the reason for the stop has not been confirmed.
Friends and family say Nichols was a friendly, talented skateboarder who grew up in Sacramento, California, and moved to Memphis before the coronavirus pandemic. Father of a 4-year-old, Nichols worked at FedEx and recently enrolled in a photography class.
Nate Spates Jr., 42, was part of a circle of friends including Nichols who met at a local Starbucks.
“He liked what he liked, and he marched to the beat of his own drum,” Spates said, recalling that Nichols used to go to a park called Shelby Farms to watch the sunset when he was on late shifts. were not working
Nichols’ death is the latest high-profile example of police using excessive force against black people and other minorities. The 2020 killing of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis officer knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes, sparked protests against racial injustice around the world.