Patrick Yoes, national president of the Fraternal Order of Police, says he was appalled by the brutal assault on Tyre Nichols.

“The event as described to us does not constitute legitimate police work or a traffic stop gone wrong,” Yoes said.  “This is a criminal assault under the pretext of law. The Memphis Police Department terminated the five officers who participated in this heinous attack. The district attorney and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation have completed the investigation, arrested the former officers, and charged them with second degree murder.”

Tyre Nichols allegedly fled from officers following a traffic stop.  After a brief foot pursuit, five Memphis police officers caught up to Mr. Nichols and beat him so badly he had to be hospitalized.  A few days later, he died of those injuries. Much as in the George Floyd murder case most, if not all, of the crime will be seen when the video is released later today.

“According to reports, the fact that none of those officers—none of them—acted to stop this vicious attack, only compounds my horror—it is sickening,” Yoes said. “The men arrested and charged for this crime have rights, the presumption of innocence, and the due process protections of anyone accused of a crime. But the bottom line here is that Tyre Nichols, his family, and our entire country need to see justice done—swiftly and surely.”

Yoes added, “This criminal encounter should not and does not define the brave men and women of the Memphis Police Department or the more than 800,000 officers who keep our country and communities safe from the kind of violence that occurred in this incident.”