Update: All Five Cops Involved In Tyre Nichols’ Case Charged With Murder

Memphis police officers identified in the Tyre Nichols case have been charged with second-degree murder.

Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith were booked Thursday in Shelby County Jail, according to ABC News.

The five officers were also charged with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault, official misconduct, and official oppression.

National outcry is calling for police footage to be released.

In a press conference Thursday afternoon, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch announced the footage would be available Friday evening but warned of its horrible viewing.

“In a word, it’s absolutely appalling,” Rausch warned, according to ABC News.

“Let me be clear, what happened here does not at all reflect proper policing. This was wrong. This was criminal.”

Tyre Nichols was declared dead at a Memphis hospital three days after being brought in by emergency officials in critical condition. Nichols was pulled over for reckless driving on Jan. 7 and after two confrontations with the officers, was arrested after reports claimed he was beaten.

ABC 24 reports that each charged officer has been granted bond, but at different levels. The bond for Haley and Martin has been set at $350,000, while the bond for Bean, Mills, and Smith is set at $250,000.

Attorneys representing Mills and Beans, Blake Ballin and Bill Massey, respectively, claim the two officers were in the process of bonding out of jail.

Nichols’s family has already released a statement regarding the announced charges, according to ABC 24; however, the family told ABC News earlier this week they were looking for a first-degree murder charge.

“This tragedy meets the absolute definition of a needless and unnecessary death,” the Nichols family wrote. “Tyre’s loved ones’ lives were forever changed when he was beaten to death, and we will keep saying his name until justice is served.”

All five officers involved in the case worked under the SCORPION Unit, known for “Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace In Our Neighborhoods.”

ABC reports the unit was launched in 2021 with the goal of “addressing violent crimes in the city in a 50-person unit that operates seven days a week.”