Three former officers charged with murder in the fatal beating of a black man that triggered nationwide protests against police brutality have been acquitted by a state jury in Memphis, Tennessee.
Tyre Nichols, who was beaten during a traffic stop in 2023, died three days after sustaining numerous blows to the head, according to a post-mortem report.
Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith, Jr were found not guilty on all charges on Wednesday, including second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.
All three have been convicted of separate federal charges, and still face long prison sentences.
Two other officers involved in the death, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills, have pleaded guilty to federal charges, avoiding trial.
Federal charges are ones that violate federal laws enacted by Congress. They are brought by the Department of Justice and usually carry stiff sentences.
The five officers, who are all black, were members of the Memphis police department’s Scorpion Task Force, a since-disbanded street unit that was tasked with bringing down crime levels in the city.
Video footage of the incident shows Mr Nichols being pulled over by police for alleged reckless driving.
A scuffle develops and officers use pepper spray and a Taser on Mr Nichols as he breaks free.
The five policemen caught up with him about a block away and began to assault him as he cried out for his mother.
He died three days later, with a post-mortem examination ruling it a homicide from blunt-force trauma.
On Wednesday, the state jury o took over eight hours to reach their verdict, following an emotional nine-day trial.
The proceedings took place in Hamilton County, over 300 miles (480km) away from Memphis after the judge ruled that the trial should take place outside of the Memphis.
Defence lawyers had argued that it would be difficult to find an impartial jury in the city.
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told reporters that he and the Nichols family were “disappointed” and “devastated” by the verdict.
“I think we can understand why they’d be outraged by this result given the evidence,” he said on Wednesday. “We respect the jury’s decision but we obviously very strongly disagree with it.”
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Nichols’ family, issued a statement calling the verdicts “a devastating miscarriage of justice”.
“The world watched as Tyre Nichols was beaten to death by those sworn to protect and serve.”
During the trial, prosecutors said that the officers had become “overcome by the moment”.
“Nobody is going to call them monsters,” said prosecutor Paul Hagerman. “It doesn’t take monsters to kill a man.”
Defence lawyers blamed Mr Nichols for running from the officers, and for resisting as they attempted to place him in handcuffs.
The verdict in the state trial comes in sharp contrast to the defendants’ federal trial in 2024, when the officers were found guilty of witness tampering charges in the case.
Haley was also found guilty of deprivation of civil rights and deliberate indifference resulting in serious bodily injury.
Bean and Smith each face up to 20 years in jail, while Haley faces a life sentence in the federal trial.
Federal sentencing hearings had been delayed until the conclusion of the state trial.
The US Justice Department in December 2024 found that the Memphis Police Department regularly used excessive force against black residents.
The findings were released after a 17-month investigation.
