Ms Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, said she was surprised that the federal charges “happened so quickly”. The investigation that led to the indictment was announced in the weeks after the January 7 beating death.
Ms Wells said her son was a “free spirit”.
“He should be here today,” she said during a news conference at a Memphis church. “Because of those five officers, he’s not.”
Attorneys for several of the former officers said the indictment was no surprise, and some added that their clients will defend themselves against the charges.
The indictment says the officers failed to tell dispatchers, their supervisor and emergency medical technicians they knew Mr Nichols had been hit repeatedly, trying to cover up their use of force and shield themselves from criminal liability.
The indictment also alleges instances where the officers used their body cameras to limit what evidence could be captured at the scene: Mr Martin moved his body camera where it wouldn’t show video of the beating; Mr Haley and Mr Smith activated theirs only after the assault; and Mr Haley and Mr Mills took theirs off when emergency medical personnel were on the scene.
At the arrest scene, the officers afterwards discussed hitting Mr Nichols with “straight haymakers” even as Mr Nichols’ condition deteriorated and he became unresponsive, the indictment said. Mr Nichols could be seen on police video on the ground, slumped against a police car.
The indictment accuses the officers of gathering after the beating and saying, among other things, that “I thought when he wasn’t going to fall, we about to kill this man.” The indictment does not specify which officer made that statement.
It also alleges the officers falsely stated Mr Nichols actively resisted arrest at the beating scene and that he grabbed Smith’s protective vest and pulled on the officers’ duty belts.
