A national Black college fraternity announced that it has revoked the memberships of three of the Memphis police officers involved in the death of Tyre Nichols.
The Greek organization Omega Psi Phi said in a statement that it booted out three of the fired officers — who are now charged with second-degree murder — who were members of the fraternity. The Memphis Commercial Appeal identified them as Tadarrius Bean, Desmond Mills, Jr., and Emmitt Martin III.
The three officer’s names now appear on the fraternity’s “expelled persons” list.
“We strongly condemn the conduct of the former Memphis police officers involved in the incident, including the three former members of our organization,” said Grand Basileus Ricky L. Lewis, the chief executive of the fraternity. “The brutality shown in the video not only violated our moral sensibilities, but also transgressed our fraternal and established code of conduct.”
The fraternity also condemned the behavior of the cops involved in Nichols’ death two days before the announcement regarding their membership revocations.
“We expect law enforcement officers to protect life and serve our communities with the highest regard for safety and humanity,” Lewis wrote in a prior statement. “Unfortunately, what we witnessed of the violent behavior of the accused (now former) officers is the complete opposite.”
Five Memphis police officers including Bean, Mills, and Martin were fired for their actions during Nichols’ arrest earlier this month and they have all been charged with murder, as well as aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.
The charges came nearly three weeks after Nichols, 29, was hospitalized during a traffic stop that turned into a roadside beating on Jan. 7. Nichols died three days later. Several other cops were fired but so far not charged. Three members of the Memphis Fire Department also lost their jobs.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said the actions of the officers was “a failing of basic humanity” and called the incident “heinous, reckless, and inhumane” in a YouTube video posted late last month.”
Video of the violent arrest that led to Nichols’ death sparked protests across the country and drew comparisons to the 1991 beating of Rodney King.
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