One of the five former Memphis police officers charged with murder in the deadly beating of Tyre Nichols was the president of a fraternity with several recent scandals at its chapters.
Tadarrius Bean, 24, was the president of the Omega Psi Phi’s Eta Zeta chapter at the University of Mississippi, according to his LinkedIn page.
The fraternity was founded in 1911 at Howard University in Washington, D.C., a historically black college. It claims to be “on the front line, leveraging its power, influence and more than 100 years of commitment to the uplift of our people and our communities,” according to Omega’s website.
But the fraternity and its members however have been involved in several troubling incidents in recent years.
In 2019, Omega’s chapter at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., was suspended over a slew of disturbing incidents involving pledges, or people looking to join the group, including at least one hospitalization, The Virginian-Pilot reported.
Potential newcomers were beaten, and some were forced to chug hot sauce or pour it down their pants to simulate a sexually transmitted disease.
In 2018, a 45-year-old man looking to join an Omega Psi Phi chapter in Brooklyn had his buttocks and testicles paddled between 150 to 200 times as part of a twisted “welcoming ritual,” resulting in two of the fraternity’s members being charged with assault and hazing.
Disturbing body-cam footage released Friday shows Nichols being beaten, pepper sprayed and tasered by the cops during a traffic stop on Jan. 7. The 29-year-old, a FedEx worker and father of a four-year-old boy, died three days later in the hospital.
Five officers, including Bean, have been charged with aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct, and official oppression in addition to second-degree murders.
The officers were sprung from the Shelby County Jail Friday after each posted between $250,000 and $350,000 bail.
Read more of the Post’s coverage of Tyre Nichols’ beating death
Omega Psi Phi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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