Summary
Three former Memphis police officers, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith, were acquitted of state charges, including second-degree murder, in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, after a traffic stop in 2023. The jury’s verdict came after a nine-day trial, despite the officers facing federal charges from a previous conviction. Nichols died from blunt force trauma following excessive force used by the officers during the arrest, leading to nationwide protests and calls for police reform.
