More information continues to come out about the Memphis police officers who beat 29-year-old Tyre Nichols during a traffic stop that turned deadly. According to a new lawsuit, the same five officers were involved in an arrest where another Black man claims they violently beat him.
The lawsuit, filed by Monterrious Harris, describes the interaction he had with the Memphis Police Department’s Scorpion unit, which he alleges left him savagely beaten.
The suit says after the confrontation, Harris arrived at the jail in rough shape, as his left eye was swollen shut, his head was bleeding, and he was having trouble walking with his left leg brandishing a gash and his right being swollen and bruised badly.
At the jail, he was evaluated by a nurse, who advised that he be transported to a hospital for treatment.
The suit names former officers Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., Justin Smith, Demetrious Haley, and Tadarrius Bean, the same five investigated and fired for beating Nichols, who eventually died from the injuries he sustained.
In the case of their interaction with Nichols, the officers have all been charged with second-degree murder and other charges.
The confrontation with Nichols occurred on Jan. 7, and Harris’s lawsuit says he was stopped by police just three days before, on Jan. 4, while he was on his way to visit his cousin’s apartment complex.
The suit says Harris picked up his cousin, who placed his registered and licensed firearm between the passenger seat and center console upon entering his car. Harris claims in the lawsuit that he did not know his cousin was armed or that he had the firearm in his car.
After speaking briefly, Harris’s cousin went back into his apartment to change clothes as they planned to go downtown. While he ran inside, Harris parked his car, and seconds later, he was surrounded by “a large group of assailants wearing black ski-masks, dressed in black clothing, brandishing guns, other weapons, hurling expletives and making threats to end his life if he did not exit his car,” according to the lawsuit.
The “assailants” turned out to be members of the Scorpion unit, and according to the lawsuit, “five or six” of them did not identify themselves as police officers while confronting Harris.
The suit also says they never asked Harris to provide identification or his registration, leaving him thinking he was about to be carjacked.
Fearing the situation, the suit says Harris tried to reverse his vehicle to flee, but being unable to do so, he exited the car with his hands in the air and unarmed.
At this point, the officers still had not identified themselves but “exacted a swift, violent, and continuous physical assault on Mr. Harris that included punching, stomping, and dragging him across concrete,” the lawsuit alleges.
Harris claims that the assault lasted approximately one to two minutes, during which he screamed for his cousin.
Hearing his pleas for help, other members of the apartment complex came outside, leading the officers to stop the beating and arrest Harris, the lawsuit says.
After all was said and done, Harris was charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun, criminal trespass, evading arrest, intentionally evading arrest in an automobile, possession of a firearm during a dangerous felony, possession of a controlled substance (and intent to manufacture, distribute/sell), tampering with fabricated evidence and possession of drug paraphernalia, which the lawsuit says are false charges.
The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday, and claims the Memphis Police Department has a deep history of abuse. It also claims several other Black men have suffered violent beatings by officers from the department.
“With respect to automobile stops, the Scorpion Unit’s modus operandi was to target and stop young black men without any legal justification,” the suit states. “The Scorpion unit would then draw their firearms, surround the “suspects’” vehicles, yell expletives and racial slurs at them, and then demand that they exit the vehicle or risk being shot.”
The department released a statement at the end of January announcing that the Scorpion unit had been disbanded.
“While the heinous actions of a few casts a cloud of dishonor on the title SCORPION, it is imperative that we, the Memphis Police Department, take proactive steps in the healing process for all impacted,” the release added.
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