Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Strips Membership Of Three Officers Involved In Tyre Nichols’ Death
Three of the five Memphis officers who were arrested and charged with second-degree murder following the brutal, fatal beating of Tyre Nichols have had their membership revoked by Omega Psi Phi.
According to NBC News, the Black fraternity didn’t name the officers in their Jan. 29 statement, but the Memphis Commercial Appeal identified them as Tadarrius Bean, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr.
Bean was president of the Eta Zeta chapter at the University of Mississippi.
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“As we all travel this road of grief and mourn with Tyre’s family, let there be no doubt of our resolve concerning holding all public service officials accountable for their actions, and in particular, holding these accused former officers accountable for their actions,” the Greek fraternity said in the statement.
“We condemn their actions in the strongest possible way and call on our elected officials to immediately institute measures to put an end to the senseless killing of citizens in our communities by law enforcement officials.”
Nichols was a 29-year-old FedEx employee and father of a 4-year-old son. On Jan. 7, he was pulled over for an alleged traffic stop. Nichols’ family viewed body cam footage of the arrest and beating in the days preceding its public release. Footage showed officers pepper spray, tase and beat an unarmed Nichols. He died Jan. 10 at a local hospital.
The fraternity’s 42nd Grand Basileus, Ricky L. Lewis, said it was “devastating!” to learn that the three officers were members of the prestigious fraternity in a statement released on Tuesday (Jan. 31).
“Effective immediately, the Fraternity has revoked the membership of the three former Memphis police officers and all related privileges they may have enjoyed as members of our Fraternity,” Lewis said.