In his testimony on Tuesday, a former police officer claimed that he kicked Tyre Nichols four times and hit him at least five times before taking off his body camera.
Emmitt Martin III told a federal jury at the trial of three former cops accused of assaulting Nichols, who passed away three days later, “I didn’t want it to show what we were doing.”
In federal court on Monday, Martin, the person who started the traffic stop against Nichols, stated that Nichols was never a threat and that the cops had minimized their own role in the Jan. 7, 2023, incident that resulted in Nichols’ vicious beating.
Nichols fled after being pepper-sprayed, but Martin, who has already entered a guilty plea, claimed to have caught up with him. There were already a few cops present.
Martin testified in court that he purposefully broke Memphis police regulation when he “ran in and assisted and I kicked him.”
“I felt furious. Martin referred to the traffic stop that precipitated the confrontation and said, “I was already furious that he ran from the first stop.”
Martin claimed that after kicking and punching Nichols four times and at least five times, he just watched as Nichols was beaten by former policemen Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith.
Martin claimed to have punched Nichols after lying to a supervisor about how high he was.
Martin claimed in court that his punches had no legal justification and were purposeful in violation of Memphis police protocol.
Nichols, he said, was “helpless.”
Martin claimed that he walked aside without offering assistance when Nichols was being struck by former officer Desmond Mills Jr. with a baton.
He added that it was customary for members of the anti-violence unit of the Memphis Police Department to remain silent when it came to the use of force.
Martin gave a second day’s testimony after telling the judge on Monday that Nichols was never a threat during the interaction and that the police officers’ use of excessive force was against protocol.
Martin testified that he was upset that evening because he hadn’t yet made an arrest, but things changed when he spotted Nichols changing lanes without indicating and driving a bit too quickly as a traffic light turned red.
Martin radioed other members of a police anti-violence team on a private channel that they needed to perform a criminal stop, even though a check of Nichols’ license plate number showed that he was not a violent offender and that there were no outstanding warrants for his arrest.
Martin claimed, “Because I exaggerated what he had done… and it escalated,” adding that the officers’ pursuit of a nonviolent offender was against protocol.
Bean, Smith, and Demetrius Haley have entered a not-guilty plea to the allegations that they obstructed justice by interfering with witnesses and using excessive force to deprive 29-year-old Nichols of his rights.
Mills and Martin, the first ex-cop to testify during their trial, have entered guilty pleas to the federal counts.
Because the five had broken police department rules, they were all fired. They had been part of the Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods, or Scorpion, a crime suppression force that was dissolved following the passing of Nichols.
Martin, who was given the moniker “Full Can” by his coworkers after using a full pepper spray can on a suspect, testified that this was his first week back at work following a six-week leave due to an automobile accident that occurred while he was on the job.
Prosecutor Kathryn Gilbert asked Martin how he felt about coming back, and he said, “I was nervous.” I desired retribution of some kind. Red was what I was seeing.
Martin claimed that after stopping Nichols, Haley yelled at him to “get the f— out of the car” while brandishing a gun. Then Martin drew his revolver, and Haley grabbed Nichols out of the car.
Three days after being stomped, beaten, and struck with a police baton during the traffic stop, Black man Nichols passed away in a hospital.
A block from his house, in a graphic video, Nichols was kicked, pepper sprayed, and beaten with batons while he was pleading for his mother.
Charges against the policemen and demands for police reform were rekindled by the deadly encounter.
According to the autopsy report, Nichols’s death was a homicide brought on by strikes to the head that left him with cuts, bruises, and brain damage.