MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A disgraced former Memphis police officer wept on the stand Tuesday as he watched video of himself and his former colleagues brutally beating Tyre Nichols, leading to his death.
Desmond Mills Jr., who was testifying at the trial of three other former officers, was overcome with grief when confronted with a video of himself pulling out his police baton and telling other officers near Nichols to “be careful.”
“I took out my baton and hit Mr. Nichols three times,” Mills testified.
He then broke down in tears as body camera video appeared to show former officers Tadarrius Bean, Justin Smith and Emmitt Martin III punching and kicking Nichols, 29, who was moaning.
“I wish I could have stopped the beating,” Mills said. “It hurts to watch. It hurts so much inside.”
In tears, Mills said of Nichols, “I left his child fatherless, and I’m sorry. … I’m sorry.”
Nichols, who was the father of a young son, died three days after the January 2023 beating, which was captured on police bodycams and reignited calls for police reform across the country after the video was released.
Mills’ shocking and emotional testimony came during the trial of Bean, Smith and Demetrius Haley.
All three have pleaded not guilty to federal charges that they deprived Nichols of his rights through excessive use of force and failure to intervene and that they obstructed justice by tampering with witnesses.
Mills and Martin pleaded guilty to federal charges.
The five officers were members of a crime-fighting team called the Scorpion Unit, which was disbanded after Nichols’ death. Like Nichols, who died in hospital on January 10, 2023, all of the former officers are Black.
They were fired for violating police department policies.
Mills testified that he became angry after his first encounter with Nichols because he had inadvertently pepper-sprayed himself. He said he never gave Nichols a chance to obey his orders before he began beating him.
“So why did you say, ‘Give me your hands?'” prosecutor Forrest Christian asked.
“To make it look better, even if it wasn’t better,” Mills replied.
Last week, Martin testified that he initiated the false traffic stop of Nichols for reckless driving.
Nicknamed “Full Can” by his co-workers after he used an entire can of pepper spray on a suspect, Martin told the court it was his first week back at work after being off for about six weeks recovering from a workplace injury. He said he was nervous and eager to make an arrest.
Nichols, Martin testified, never posed a threat when they removed him from his car.
Martin said, however, that Haley tear-gassed Nichols, who fled. He added that having to chase Nichols made him furious.
“I was angry,” Martin said. “I was already angry because he ran away at the first stop.”
Martin testified that he punched Nichols at least five times and kicked him four times.
Then, Martin said, he removed his body camera, stood there and watched Smith and Bean beat the “defenseless” man.
“I didn’t want it to show what we were doing,” he said.
He said he did not intervene when Mills began hitting Nichols with a baton.
Martin later said he lied to a supervisor about Nichols being high and punching him. He said it was normal for members of the anti-violence team to keep quiet about the use of force.
Jerry Askin and Lydian Kennin reported from Memphis, Tennessee, and Corky Siemaszko reported from New York.
