Former Memphis police officer Emmitt Martin III took the stand on Tuesday, revealing that he punched Tyre Nichols at least five times while two of his colleagues restrained him, telling Martin to “hit him.” Martin also admitted to lying about the use of force during the violent encounter that led to Nichols’ death in January 2023.
Martin’s testimony is part of the trial for five former officers who made up the special police unit that viciously beat Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, after pulling him over for alleged reckless driving. The five officers, including Martin, have been indicted on charges of second-degree murder as well as other felonies.
On the evening of Jan. 7, 2023, Nichols was stopped for speeding and dragged from his car. He then ran away, at which point Martin claimed to have caught up with Nichols and seen two other officers, Tadarrius Bean and Justin Smith, already beating him. ‘They were beating the crap out of him,” Martin testified.
All five of the officers, Martin, Bean, Smith, Demetrius Haley and Desmond Mills Jr. were fired after the incident, and they are all charged with both state and federal offenses. Martin and Mills have taken plea deals and are testifying against their ex-colleagues. In state court, where the officers face charges ranging from second-degree murder, Martin and Mills have indicated that they will change their not-guilty pleas.
Unarmed, Nichols was pepper-sprayed, hit with a stun gun and then pummeled by the officers a few blocks from his family home as he cried out for his mother. In a video of the event, released to the public, the officers stand around and chat while Nichols, suffering from the beating, struggled to breathe.
Martin said he was angry at Nichols that night for running from him during the traffic stop, and that anger played a big part in why he beat Nichols so violently, saying to the court: ‘I figured that’s what he should get.’
The prosecutor Kathryn Gilbert interrogated Martin, asking him if police beat people because they were angry. ‘No, ma’am,’ he answered. She asked him if any police officer is allowed to strangle someone. He said they were not. Then she read the policy that officers learn when they enter the force: ‘Officers shall not engage in any conduct or use any weapon that impairs the breathing… of another person.’ Martin admitted he should have stopped the assault and instead threw his body camera onto the ground to hide what he and Shupe were doing. ‘We were assaulting Mr Nichols,’ he confessed to the court.
Martin confessed he also kicked Nichols while Mills used the baton on him. ‘I punched him several times in the head while the other guys were holding his arms,’ Martin said. ‘They told me he had a bulletproof vest on and I should keep hitting him.’ the police had encountered Nichols while he was ‘f–king around with a gun and firing it into the air’ It was Mills, he affirmed, who said ‘He’s just a n–ger anyway’ after Nichols was shot lying on the ground. ‘He was helpless,’ Martin said of Nichols during the beating.
Nichols died in hospital three days after the assault, on Jan. 10, 2023, from what an autopsy later showed to be severe head injuries, with ‘multiple’ cuts and bruises ‘extensively’ found on his body. Nichols, a father of one son, has become the rallying point around calls for police reform and accountability.
In his testimony, Martin acknowledged lying to his supervisor, Lt. Dewayne Smith, after the incident, falsely claiming that Nichols had been high on drugs and that he had grabbed Martin’s gun, despite having no evidence for either claim. “I exaggerated his actions to justify mine,” Martin said, explaining that he and his colleagues had an unspoken agreement not to expose one another’s misconduct.
Under cross-examination, Martin spoke about his mental state, revealing that he had recently returned to work after being injured in an accident in late 2022. He testified that, during his time off, he had told Justin Smith that he was struggling with homicidal thoughts.
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