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Tyre Nichols documents: Officer never explained stop to him

FILE - In this image from video released on Jan. 27, 2023, by the city of Memphis, Tenn., Tyre Nichols leans against a car after a brutal attack by five Memphis Police officers on Jan. 7, in Memphis. Officials said Tuesday, Feb. 7, that a total of 13 Memphis officers could end up being disciplined in connection with the violent arrest of Nichols, as city council members expressed frustration with the city’s police and fire chiefs during a meeting for not moving quickly on specific policy reforms in the month since Nichols’ brutal beating. (City of Memphis via AP, File)
FILE - In this image from video released on Jan. 27, 2023, by the city of Memphis, Tenn., Tyre Nichols leans against a car after a brutal attack by five Memphis Police officers on Jan. 7, in Memphis. Officials said Tuesday, Feb. 7, that a total of 13 Memphis officers could end up being disciplined in connection with the violent arrest of Nichols, as city council members expressed frustration with the city’s police and fire chiefs during a meeting for not moving quickly on specific policy reforms in the month since Nichols’ brutal beating. (City of Memphis via AP, File) FILE - In this image from video released on Jan. 27, 2023, by the city of Memphis, Tenn., Tyre Nichols leans against a car after a brutal attack by five Memphis Police officers on Jan. 7, in Memphis. Officials said Tuesday, Feb. 7, that a total of 13 Memphis officers could end up being disciplined in connection with the violent arrest of Nichols, as city council members expressed frustration with the city’s police and fire chiefs during a meeting for not moving quickly on specific policy reforms in the month since Nichols’ brutal beating. (City of Memphis via AP, File)

By TRAVIS LOLLER, JONATHAN MATTISE and ADRIAN SAINZ / Associated Press 5 min read

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP) — The officer who pulled Tyre Nichols from his car before police fatally beat him never explained why he was being stopped, newly released documents show, and emerging reports from Memphis residents suggest that was common.

The Memphis Police Department blasted Demetrius Haley and four other officers as “blatantly unprofessional” and asked that they be stripped of the ability to work as police for their role in the Jan. 7 beating, according to documents released Tuesday by the Tennessee Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission.

They also include revelations that Haley took photographs of Nichols as he lay propped against a police car, then sent the photos to other officers and a female acquaintance.

Nichols died three days later — the latest police killing to prompt nationwide protests and an intense public conversation about how police treat Black residents.

Yet what led to it all remains a mystery.