All five former police officers charged with fatally assaulting Tire Nichols were members of the now-demolished SCORPION unit, a Memphis police spokesman confirmed to DailyExpertNews.
“The officers who were discharged were members of the SCORPION unit,” Major Karen Rudolph said in a statement Saturday.
Former officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills Jr. have each been charged with manslaughter, aggravated assault, two charges of aggravated kidnapping, two charges of official misconduct, and one charge of official suppression for their actions during the violent arrest of Tire Nichols.
The Memphis Police Department announced earlier Saturday that it will permanently deactivate the SCORPION unit.
The Memphis mayor’s office declined to comment on the move Saturday afternoon.
Some background: When launched in 2021, the SCORPION unit – Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods – was billed as a direct response to some of the city’s worst crimes, with a focus on murders, robberies, assaults and other crimes .
The unit was deployed in targeted deployments, sending officers to areas where police were monitoring increases in violent crime.
It gained more attention following revelations that unit officers were involved in Nichols’ death. The family’s lawyer, Antonio Romanucci, had called on the Memphis police to immediately and permanently disband the unit.
You can read more about SCORPION here.