SCORPION Unit 'permanently deactivated' after Tyre Nichols death

All of the police body-worn camera footage from the fatal traffic stop of Tyre Nichols has been accounted for, the city of Memphis said in a statement on Sunday.

© Leah Millis/Reuters A person pays their respects as balloons, notes, candles, other offerings are visible at the site where Tyre Nichols was severely beaten by Memphis police officers, and died in a hospital three days later in Memphis, Tennessee, Jan. 28, 2023.

The initial traffic stop of Nichols involved three officers, including one who did not activate his body-worn camera, city officials said. That camera was not turned back on before the officer left the intersection where the traffic stop occurred, officials said.

Video from the body-worn camera of a third officer was preserved and titled "Video 1" in the public release of it on Friday, officials said.

© Cheney Orr/AFP via Getty Images Protesters gather during a rally against the fatal police assault of Tyre Nichols, in Atlanta, Jan. 28, 2023.

Only two body-worn cameras were activated after police officers chased and caught Nichols, city officials said. A stationary city security camera captured the officers beating Nichols, city officials said. Those videos, described as Videos 3 and 4, were released to the public.

-ABC News' Stephanie Wash and Whitney Lloyd

During a press event with other state and local leaders on Saturday, Tennessee state Rep. G.A. Hardaway said he has questions that have not been answered regarding the timeline and logistics of the Nichols case.

"There is more to the story, and I think that the citizens of Memphis and Shelby County deserve to know the whole story," Hardaway, who represents Memphis, said.

Hardaway said the “only quick turnaround” from police in the case was the information that five officers received administrative discipline. He called for more clarity regarding the chain of command as it pertains to the notification of car chases and violent encounters.

"You can’t get the trust of Memphians and Shelby Countians unless you’re truthful, and you can’t be truthful if you’re not transparent," he said.

--with ABC News' Jianna Cousin

The Memphis Police Department has deactivated its SCORPION Unit, the task force at the center of Nichols' death, the department said Saturday.

The decision came after Chief Cerelyn Davis met with other members of the unit, who agreed with the deactivation, according to a statement from the department.

"In the process of listening intently to the family of Tyre Nichols, community leaders, and the uninvolved officers who have done quality work in their assignments, it is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate the SCORPION Unit," the statement said.

All five officers fired and charged in connection with Nichols' death were in the unit, which had been inactive since the fatal encounter.

The 40-officer SCORPION unit, which stands for Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods, launched in November 2021 and focused on "high crime hotspots," the department said at the time.

Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, the attorneys representing the family, had repeatedly called to end the unit.

"You have a man literally laying down in distress, dying, and people are just talking like this is business as usual. Had Tyre not succumbed to his injuries, how many more times would they have done this and how many times have they done it before?" he told ABC News on Friday.

Crump and Romanucci said in a joint statement Saturday that they and Nichols' family found the disbandment of the unit "to be both appropriate and proportional to the tragic death of Tyre Nichols, and also a decent and just decision for all citizens of Memphis."

Former President Barack Obama called on people to "reimagine public safety" in response to Nichols' fatal encounter with police.

"The vicious, unjustified beating of Tyre Nichols and his ultimate death at the hands of five Memphis police officers is just the latest, painful reminder of how far America still has to go in fixing how we police our streets," he said in a joint statement with Michelle Obama on Twitter that included a selfie of Nichols by water. "Along with mourning Tyre and supporting his family, it’s up to all of us to mobilize for lasting change."

The attorney representing former Memphis Police Officer Desmond Mills, one of the five charged in Tyre Nichols' death, released a statement saying the videos "produced as many questions as they have answers," Blake Ballin, an attorney for Mills said.

"Some of the questions that remain will require a focus on Desmond Mills’s individual actions; on what Desmond knew and what he was able to see when he arrived late to the scene; on what Desmond knew and what he was able to see after he was pepper sprayed; and on whether Desmond’s actions crossed the lines that were crossed by other officers during this incident," Ballin said.

"We continue to urge caution and patience in judging Desmond Mills’s actions. We are confident that the questions of whether Desmond crossed the lines that others crossed and whether he committed the crimes charged will be answered with a resounding no," Ballin added.

Vice President Kamala Harris reacted to the footage of Nichols' confrontation with police officers.

"Tyre Nichols should have made it home to his family. Yet, once again, America mourns the life of a son and father brutally cut short at the hands of those sworn to protect and serve," she said in a statement. "The footage and images released tonight will forever be seared in our memories, and they open wounds that will never fully heal."

Tyre Nichols' family spoke exclusively with ABC News' Elwyn Lopez following the release of the body camera footage of his encounter with police.

Rodney Wells, Nichols' stepfather, said the footage justified that his son was not a threat to the officers.

© ABC News Tyre Nichols' stepfather Rodney Wells speaks with ABC News, Jan. 27, 2023.

"For an individual to weigh 150 pounds and be brutalized by five officers, [it] is unheard of and we need the public to see it," he told ABC News.

Wells also called for the prosecution of everyone who was seen in the video, including paramedics and other unidentified officers.

When asked about the part of the footage where Nichols was heard crying for his mother, RowVaughn Wells, she told ABC News that she wasn't there for her son.

© ABC News RowVaughn Wells, mother of Tyre Nichols speaks with ABC News, Jan. 27, 2023.

"I had this very bad stomach pain pit and I didn't know what it was at the time that night," she said. "I didn't realize that I was feeling my son's pain."

Ben Crump, the attorney representing the family, said the video also raised more questions concerning the other officers who are seen confronting Nichols.

He also criticized the attitude of the first responders seen following the beating.

"They were so nonchalant about everything," he said.

Following the footage's release, two Shelby County sheriff's deputies who were at the scene of the police confrontation have been relieved of their duties pending an investigation, the county's sheriff announced.

"Having watched the videotape for the first time tonight, I have concerns about two deputies who appeared on the scene following the physical confrontation between police and Tyre Nichols," Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. said in a statement on Twitter.

Bonner said he has launched an internal investigation into their conduct "to determine what occurred and if any policies were violated."

Both are relieved of duty pending the investigation's outcome, he said.

© Matt Krohn/USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Memphis Grizzlies stand for a moment of silence for Tyre Nichols before the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center, Jan. 27, 2023, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The Memphis Grizzlies held a moment of silence for Nichols before Friday night's NBA game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis.

In a pre-game presser, Jenkins was it was "devastating", "another example of police brutality taking the life of one of our own" and "hard to process."

In a pre-game presser ahead of the release of the footage, Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins said it was "devastating", "another example of police brutality taking the life of one of our own" and "hard to process."

"A lot of emotion," Jenkins said.