Tyre Nichols’ family to sue Memphis, police over fatal traffic stop

Tyre Nichols’ family plans to sue the city of Memphis, the Memphis Police Department and individual police officers over the January traffic stop that resulted in the 29-year-old’s death, the family’s attorneys announced on Tuesday.

Renowned civil rights attorney Ben Crump, as well as attorney Antonio Romanucci and local counsel and retired Judge Earnestine Hunt Dorse, plan to file the civil suit on Wednesday.

The attorneys for the Nichols family will also be suing Memphis police for “international infliction of emotional distress” for allegedly lying to Nichols’ mother, according to Tuesday’s press release.

Nichols died in January after being brutally beaten by Memphis police officers during a traffic stop. The ultimately fatal encounter was captured on body camera and surveillance footage, which sparked national outrage after it was released to the public later that month.

Five Memphis police officers were fired and charged with second-degree murder for their role in Nichols’ death — but all pleaded not guilty in their first court appearance in February.

Two other officers were also terminated, and one retired before he was fired. Three members of the Memphis Fire Department were fired, and one was suspended, for failing to provide Nichols with adequate care after the beating.

The Department of Justice is also conducting an independent review of the incident.

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