As some Memphis officers joked about Tyre Nichols beating, others criticized special unit

Though it did not provide much additional detail about why Tyre Nichols was pulled over, the newly released footage of his beating offered a look at how some Memphis police officers viewed members of the SCORPION Unit. Other footage showed attitudes that officers from the Memphis Police Department had the night Nichols was beaten.

Footage from an officer's rear seat camera recorded conversations between an officer and another person who described SCORPION Unit officers too "hands-on," with one officer seemingly saying she was glad she did not take a position within the unit.

Another set of body camera footage showed a different perspective and recorded a Memphis police officer discussing what to charge Nichols with, and joking about his condition with a SCORPION Unit officer.

The videos were part of the City of Memphis' most recent release, which was mandated by Shelby County Criminal Court Judge James Jones Jr. The newest release contained hours of everything from officers driving around in silence to casual conversations in the wake of Nichols' beating and discussions with supervising officers.

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Officer Irma Montes' rear seat camera shows concern over SCORPION tactics

Officer Irma Montes was a name not known publicly prior to Tuesday's video release, and footage from her dash camera and rear seat camera do not clearly show her at any of the scenes related to Nichols' beating. She does speak with another individual, who seemed to have a deep knowledge of MPD.

"Thank god I didn't take the f--cking ... imagine if I took the SCORPION. I would've been pissed," Montes can be heard saying to the other person.

Montes goes on to say that she has worked with former officer Demetrius Haley, who she describes as "the big guy," and said, "he don't give a f--k."

The two talk to one another, with the second person saying "I feel like they're a little too...," before Montes jumps in and says, "hands on?"

The other person agreed with Montes.

"Everybody is tryna up one," Montes says. "Dude, pepper spray, Taser, and then he's doing shit. It's not even a felony, bruh. You've got to be smarter."

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As the conversation continues, the other person can be heard saying "he enjoys confrontations, like really enjoys it," though it is unclear who they are talking about.

Officer's body camera footage shows SCORPION officer joking about Nichols

While waiting for a tow truck to pick up Nichols' car from the intersection of Ross and Raines roads, an officer who was not part of the traffic stop and subsequent beating, Samuel Lively, is recorded pulling up to former officer Preston Hemphill.

The two officers start talking about what had happened, and a third, unnamed female officer chimes in throughout the conversation.

Lively and the other officer were never fired, named or criminally charged in the case. Hemphill, though not facing criminal charges, was fired by the department.

Hemphill said Haley pepper-sprayed everyone. Lively asks if Haley was the one who pepper sprayed someone yesterday, but Hemphill said he was not and that it was Mills who did that.

“We tried to pull him over at Riverdale and Raines, but he took off. So we just shut our lights off and kept cruising. We saw his ass here at the red light. We persuaded him out and he started fighting us,” Hemphill said.

A female officer then said: “I was thinking he had shit on him, like warrant-wise, but now we do got some shit on him. We didn’t before.”

Lively asks Hemphill what the original stop was for, and Hemphill starts to explain potential charges.

“You can’t do evading in a vehicle because then that means it was a pursuit,” Hemphill said. “You can’t add that charge unless you do a pursuit.”

“Damn,” the female officer says.

“Well, when you detain him and he resisted,” Lively followed up, before he was cut off by Hemphill.

“You can get him for resisting arrest, fleeing on foot ― which is a misdemeanor, speeding and improper lane change,” Hemphill said.

“That’s enough,” Lively said, and the female officer pointed out that those aren’t felonies.

“You don’t need a felony once you start fighting,” Lively responded.

Lively then suggested that aggravated assault charges could be tacked on because officers said Nichols was reaching for one of the officers’ guns. Footage showed that Nichols did not grab for a gun during either scuffle.

The conversation then shifted when the female officer asked if either of the officers had seen Nichols.

“His face was f--ked up, right?” Hemphill says and then laughs.

Hemphill then goes on to say that Nichols was “very polite while resisting.”

“We told him, ‘Get on the ground,’” Hemphill recalled, mimicking a shouting voice when quoting himself and other officers. Hemphill then impersonated Nichols and calmly quoted him. “’All right, officers, I’m getting on the ground. OK, officers, whatever you say.’ He was politely resisting.”

Lively then says, “Y’all stirred up a lot visiting Ridgeway,” referencing the precinct officers with the SCORPION Unit were in. Hemphill responded with, “I’ll say,” while inspecting his Taser.

MPD on Tuesday deferred to the City of Memphis for questions about officer attitudes towards the SCORPION Unit and questions about how officers discussed potential charges. The city, in reply to the same questions, said it and MPD do not comment on pending litigation.

Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com, or (901)208-3922, and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter, @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: New Tyre Nichols videos show Memphis officers joke about beating