Three former Memphis police officers were acquitted Wednesday of all state charges, including second-degree murder, in the 2023 fatal beating of Tyre Nichols.
The verdict has reignited national outrage over police brutality and renewed doubts about the effectiveness of reform efforts since George Floyd’s death.
A mostly white jury from outside Memphis took about 8.5 hours over two days to find Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith not guilty on all charges after a nine-day trial.
Highlights
- Three former Memphis officers were acquitted of all state charges, including second-degree murder, in Tyre Nichols' 2023 fatal beating case.
- A mostly white jury in a majority Black Memphis found the officers not guilty after an 8.5-hour deliberation.
- The acquittal reignited national outrage over police brutality and doubts about reforms since George Floyd’s death.
- Two other officers pleaded guilty federally and testified against the acquitted officers; all five face a $550 million civil lawsuit.
- Civil rights leaders demand justice beyond courtrooms, calling for congressional police reform to end deadly traffic stops.
The trial took place in Memphis, a majority Black city.
After the verdict, the former officers hugged their lawyers, while some of their family members cried.
The verdict came more than two years after Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, was stopped for an alleged traffic violation on his way home.
Officers pulled him from his car, and one fired a taser at him. Nichols tried to run away, but video footage later showed five officers beating him severely.
Three police officers were acquitted of second-degree murder in the case of Tyre Nichols’ fatal beating
Image credits: Memphis Police Department
The autopsy revealed that the father-of-one died from blunt force trauma to the head.
The jury found the former officers not guilty on all state counts, which included second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping and official oppression.
This was the second trial for the three officers. Last fall, they were found guilty in a separate federal case of witness tampering for lying to their superiors about what had happened.
The three officers still face the possibility of several years in prison due to their federal conviction last October.
Bean and Smith were cleared of civil rights violations, while the jury found Haley guilty.
Five former officers were originally fired and faced both federal and state charges in connection with Nichols’ death.
Nichols’ family has named all five men in a $550 million civil lawsuit. The trial has been scheduled for next year.
Shortly before losing his life, the father-of-one was stopped for an alleged traffic violation
Image credits: Lucy Garrett / Getty Images
Two of them, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills, pleaded guilty in federal court last year and testified against the others.
Defense attorneys stated that Martin was the most violent of them all, kicking and punching Nichols multiple times in the head.
Mills, testifying for the prosecution, said he regretted his failure to stop the beating. He also acknowledged that it was his duty to do so, but he did not.
Mills had hit Nichols’ arms three times with a police baton—after accidentally spraying pepper spray on himself rather than on Nichols.
Martin and Mills will have their trials separately. While they have not been formally sentenced, the officers made deals with prosecutors that their terms should not exceed 40 and 15 years, respectively.
Prosecutor Paul Hagerman defended their actions by saying they were frustrated and full of adrenaline after Nichols fled the traffic stop.
They were “overcome by the moment. Nobody is going to call them monsters—it doesn’t take monsters to kill a man,” he said in his opening statement.
The defense further argued that Nichols had resisted arrest.
The acquittals sparked fresh outrage from community leaders, civil rights organizations, and Nichols’ relatives—especially when the misconduct was caught on camera.
“The world watched as Tyre Nichols was beaten to death by those sworn to protect and serve. That brutal, inhumane assault was captured on video, yet the officers responsible were acquitted,” Ben Crump, the family’s civil rights attorney, said in a statement on X.
Derrick Johnson, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, wrote on X: “Tyre and his family deserve true justice—not only in the courtroom, but in Congress, by passing police reform legislation once and for all.
“Traffic stops should never be a death sentence, and a badge should never—ever—be a shield to accountability,” he added.
The incident drew comparisons to George Floyd's killing in 2020 and sparked widespread protests. It also led to a 17-month federal investigation into the Memphis Police Department, which found a pattern of civil rights violations, including the use of excessive force, illegal traffic stops, and disproportionate targeting of Black residents.
This was followed by a police traffic-stop reform bill with ordinances including one that outlawed traffic stops for reasons that are not related to a motorist's driving—for instance, a broken taillight and other minor violations. The bill was repealed by Governor Bill Lee.
A federal investigation into the Memphis Police Department found a pattern of civil rights violations
Image credits: VCG / Getty Images
Despite the federal findings and the initial outrage, momentum for reform has been lost.
“Let this be a rally and cry: We must confront the broken systems that empowered this injustice and demand the change our nation—and Tyre’s legacy—deserves,” said Ben Crump.
Rev. Al Sharpton spoke with Nichols’ mother and stepfather after the verdict.
“They were outraged,” he said in a statement. “Tyre’s death was preventable, inexcusable, and tragic. Justice can still be delivered,” he added.
Community leaders in Memphis also expressed their deep frustration to the Associated Press.
“It is extremely difficult to convict officers even when they are on camera,” said Andre Johnson, a pastor and activist in the city. “For a lot of people, the message is loud and clear: that even if we catch you doing what you did to Tyre, you still might walk free.”