Memphis ‘Scorpion Unit’ under scrutiny after Tyre Nichols’ death

Some of the former Memphis police officers accused in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols were members of a special police unit named the "Scorpion Unit." CNN's Brian Todd reports on why it was created and how it operated.
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73 comments

  1. Scorpion unit,, wow talk about giving the cops on a power trip a name to give them more of an ego..
    Children with guns and badges.

    1. @LotsOfFun much more safe, humane and community oriented. I think there are many who want to be expatriates at this point.

    2. @Howard Washington Pretty interesting statement to apply across 8 billion people on this planet. Don’t assume you know everyone.

    1. @Kelly Schafer Exactly, the one I saw trying to articulate what happened sounded illiterate. I agree, it must not be much of a standard to become a police officer.

    2. LOL Hearing the few words Nichols said, he actually sounded like he was a fairly articulate and well spoken person. These “police officers” all sounded like low class ghetto thugs

  2. This was an assassination. Tyre was trying to deescalate the situation. The pigs kept doing things to escalate the situation. There is no scenario in which he would have escaped death here.

    1. It was black on black voilence. Acting shocked about it is just a little virtue signaling by you . Don’t you think .

    2. people here in memphis are saying that he was talking to one of the cops wife, i think they tracked him down and he called his buddies in to take care of him, it looks like one is watching out for the others while they hold him down, its all speculation though, i think more will come out as it goes on

  3. “Scorpion unit” (very ominous and intimidating name)
    Gangs usually have small “units” within the main gang who operate specific tasks.

    1. Depts. looking for valuables and using civil forfeiture to keep cash people have in their pockets during bogus arrests. The bikers during the Twin Peaks shooting had their harleys, cash, and phones seized and never returned. Easy way for the police to rob citizens. Only have 48 hours to file a claim and prove the cash and car are legally yours or the police dept. keeps it all. The assests are auctioned and the proceeds and cash are pumped back into their dept. with raises and paid training, new patrol cars etc. It’s organized crime in uniforms. This mob of officers murdered this man. Why did the cop have a baton? Less noise than a gun? Sad because we all know those cops are only going to receive probation.

  4. Back in the 90s and again in the 2000s two times I was stopped with my husband for no reason in Memphis on the highway they were fishing, once I was going to a wedding. Second time I was going to visit my family and they stopped us and they harassed us. They never charged us with anything they were fishing. Once we had the kids in the car. SMH sounds like Memphis needs a lot more training.

    1. I have no problems as long as you are black, the community responsible for the degeneracy of the world. Just have a good look at the African subcontinent.

    2. i watched the unedited video. it was an execution. they hand cuffed him, no resistance. and then beat him slowly to death. punch by punch. slowly. they then gave each other high fives …..one of the most messed up things ive ever seen in my life. how can anyone stop for a cop when this is what we fear ?

  5. I also have PANIC ATTACK concerns and other safety concerns with this sort of POLICING too…. I am an OLDER GENTLEMAN now and don’t think I’d be able to comply in time to the POLICE, especially if they’re being this aggressive!!! thanks!

    1. @LETHAL WASTE JAMS They don’t care if you’re older, younger, disabled, race, sex. I saw a video the other day a woman was punched in her face three times after leaving McDonald’s. She had a disagreement over a $1.00, .30 cents and extra cheese. She then left the restaurant and was heading to her car, police arrived, they wanted to arrest her and charge her with trespassing she verbally said she is not under arrest, they arrested her and punched her three times in her face. (A male officer). Elijah, I think he has autism, he begged for them to respect his boundaries…dead. You heard how enraged they were as they headed to his car.

  6. Just the name, “Scorpion Unit”, sounds dangerous and violent. It’s easy to assign an acronym to a group, but when doing so the implications can form a mentality that may lead to the serious violence that we have all now seen.

    1. Yea they are called the Jump Off Boys in MN. They drive around jumping out of trucks and vans kidnapping “bad” people!

  7. Thanks for keeping us updated. I’m really impressed. Our government has no idea how people are struggling right now RIP I will forever appreciate Dennis Jones You’ve helped me a lot With your advices on MentaI HeaIth, Homelessness, gun violence, mass butchering, elementary schools, starvation, no healthcare, divided country with racism, hatred, fentanyl overdose, gangs, poIice brutaIity, human rights violiation, mass illegal immigration, collapsed financial system, extreme economic downturn, record high inflation and great depression, shedding light and keeping this story alive. It’s truly been a blessing. Seriously, can it get better than that?

    1. the world is like that right now, did you see what just happened in isreal, or whats happening in ukraine or the middle east, the whole world is insane right now

    2. There was never peace on earth…the difference is that you’re more connected to the world through internet. With knowledge there is a burden we just haven’t learned what to do with this knowledge we have. Hopefully we’re on the brink of doing something about. We are united in our suffering.

  8. Note to police departments: If you have a unit with a name that could be mistaken for the villain faction in a low budget 80s movie then you might have a problem on your hands.

    1. @Threetails  never said that did I. What I am saying is that if black lives really matter, then there should be equal attention given to every black person that was murdered, not just a select few.

    2. @Threetails  what would you tell a black Chicago mother who just had a son or daughter murdered by a gang member? Sorry but your child wasn’t killed by the police like so&so was. So we won’t be preaching their name everywhere we go. To bad, so sad, bye bye.

  9. Hopefully other VICTIMS of this so called SCORPION 🦂 UNIT will come FORWARD and tell their STORIES of ABUSE!

  10. This type of attitude starts at the top. Whoever supervise them has to hold them to a higher standard as public servants

  11. This is a much greater problem than the “unit” or the the name of the “unit”. Officers have been taught for decades to be combatants, to dominate, to kill or be killed. I am not naive to the fact that sometimes officers may need to use forceful tactics but overall their training should be more of a guardian mindset. This situation is absolutely horrific, what’s worse is that it keeps happening over and over again.

    1. Their mindset is such that they believe that the rest of us who do not carry a badge are literally the enemy,their training is not one of the public servant but assasins.

    2. i agree with shawna. its easy for the police chief to say ” oh my god i cant believe a murder happened ! ” but ….shes training the units…..this isnt just 1 guy or 2 guys, or 3 or 4….but 5 to 7……its a problem with the system and whoever is in charge. i found it laughable she said ” ive never seen this in all my years ” and im sitting here like ….ok o your the chief of police and youve never seen cold calculated murder ? ….funny ….i thought that was you job to know that stuff …

    3. Trust and believe this is not their first or only time harassing or beaten someone who is unarmed or innocent.
      Watch other people will come forth, and tell how they got harass by the Scorpion Unit.
      People who where scared before, will speak up.
      Scorpion Unit task forces have used aggressive tactics, operate without adequate oversight and harass people just because they are in or live in a high crime area.

  12. My heart goes out to Tyre’s family. As the mother of 4 adult young men and 1 adult young woman, I ingested the films of that beating as if Tyre was one of my own and sobbed. I kept thinking those “police officers” were just a gang of punks in hoodies with weapons looking for trouble and hiding behind the badge. If there hadn’t been cameras, they would have lied for each other. Those officers are beyond criminals. They are evil with a taste for blood. Just disgusting and heart wrenching. This whole world needs changed.

  13. It’s beyond “no one there to make sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to.”…How they could even think what we saw was ok morally or ethically really says something

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