Latest news with #CommercialAppeal
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Yahoo
One person fatally shot by police in Bartlett, DA's office says. TBI is investigating
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating a fatal shooting involving the Bartlett Police Department in the Wolfchase neighborhood on May 22. TBI confirmed an officer from the Bartlett Police Department shot at a person in the 8300 block of U.S. 64. A spokesperson from TBI said agents are investigating the circumstances leading up to the shooting and are working on gathering preliminary information. TBI did not initially provide any information on the condition of the person who was shot at. The Shelby County District Attorney's office confirmed to The Commercial Appeal that the individual shot at was killed and that the altercation took place in a Lowe's parking lot. An investigation is ongoing. This is a developing story and will be updated. Jack Armstrong covers breaking news and the environment for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at and followed on X @jca2902. This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: TBI: Bartlett fatal police shooting under investigation
USA Today
08-05-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Fed chair cites 'uncertainty' as central bank holds key rate steady
Fed chair cites 'uncertainty' as central bank holds key rate steady | The Excerpt On Thursday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: The Fed left its key interest rate unchanged again Wednesday and gave no hint it plans to lower it soon. Commercial Appeal Criminal Justice Reporter Lucas Finton has the latest from Memphis after former police officers were found not guilty of murder in the beating death of Tyre Nichols. All three former officers were separately convicted in federal court and still face time in federal prison. A nonpartisan analysis said millions of Americans could lose Medicaid health insurance coverage under different Republican Congressional proposals to cut spending. Airline CEOs rally behind Trump's air traffic control plan. USA TODAY Education Reporter Zach Schermele discusses how some think China could benefit from Trump defunding university research. Today is VE Day, marking 80 years since the end of the European theater in World War II. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending an email to podcasts@ Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text. Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here Taylor Wilson: Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Thursday, May 8th, 2025. This is The Excerpt. Today, the Fed has given us our latest checkup on the economy, plus a not guilty verdict for former officers charged in the death of Tyre Nichols. And while Trump keeps defunding university research, some think China will benefit. ♦ The Federal Reserve is still in wait-and-see mode. The Fed left its key interest rate unchanged again yesterday and gave no hint that it plans to lower it soon. That comes as President Donald Trump's tariffs raise the risks of both another inflation spike and recession. Officials signal they're growing increasingly concerned about both. The decision leaves the Fed's benchmark short-term rate at a range of 4-and-a-quarter to 4.5% for a third straight meeting. The central bank lowered the rate by a percentage point late last year as a pandemic-related price surge eased, but has paused since as it gauges the impact of Trump's duties. ♦ A jury returned a not guilty verdict on all counts in the state case for three of the former Memphis police officers charged in the beating death of Tyre Nichols. Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith Jr. have been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. I spoke with Commercial Appeal criminal justice reporter Lucas Finton for more from Memphis. And a warning, some of the details in this story are graphic. Lucas, hello. Thank you so much for giving me some time on this. Lucas Finton: Thanks for having me, Taylor. Taylor Wilson: So, Lucas, let's just start here before we get to this verdict. Going back to the incident itself, what happened to Tyre Nichols? Lucas Finton: So going back to January 7th, 2023, we were looking at Tyre Nichols getting pulled over by three officers with Memphis Police Department's Scorpion Unit. It was an elite task force basically sent to catch the most violent offenders in Memphis. Tyre Nichols is very aggressively pulled over at the start of that interaction. After a brief struggle, Tyre Nichols is running away from these officers. There was pepper spray, there was a taser, very unclear which hit and which didn't. But we do know that Tyre Nichols was able to get away at least momentarily, and he was running back to his mother's house when he got tackled by more officers from that same unit. And as more officers started to converge, you see him start to take punches, take kicks, more pepper spray at almost a point-blank range. And then, ultimately when they handcuff him and drag him to the side of a squad car, you see him start to slump over before medical professionals are able to get to the scene. Taylor Wilson: So, fast-forward to yesterday, Lucas, what verdict did the jury return here? And can you just remind us what led up to this point in court? What had we heard from the legal teams? Lucas Finton: Yesterday we heard a blanket not guilty verdict for the three defendants that saw trial. Looking back to yesterday and what led up to that verdict, we saw prosecution start and stop its case with two days, and they called five witnesses, including Tyre Nichols's mother, RowVaughn Wells. They called no use-of-force experts and closed their case after only two days, which came as quite a shock to most of the people in the courtroom. Since then, it was all up to the defense and the defense went on to call each defendant. All three of them called their own use-of-force expert that said their client did nothing wrong, and the jury at the end agreed there was not enough evidence to convict these three officers for killing Tyre Nichols. At the end of the proof, the judge did read jury instructions, and in addition to those seven charged offenses, there were 36 lesser offenses that the jury also could have convicted on. And essentially that required during deliberations the jury to say, "We are not convicting on the charged offense of," for example, "count one, second degree murder." And then they went down a litany of other charges and after about eight-and-a-half hours of deliberations, about four hours on Monday, and then four-and-a-half hours Tuesday, and brought back blanket not guilty verdicts for all defendants on all counts. Taylor Wilson: So, we should note Lucas, that we're talking here shortly after the verdict came in. What's the reaction been either around the court, in Memphis, or I guess, nationally? I mean, how is this landing with Americans? Lucas Finton: It's still kind of new to a lot of people. There was the federal trial last fall, and for a lot of people it's one trial and it's done. In this case, there were two criminal trials that had to happen before anything else could happen. So, we just wrapped up the second criminal trial yesterday with that verdict. Inside the courtroom, Tyre Nichols's family was very, very stoic, but as they got up and were hurried out, some of them had tears in their eyes. There were a couple of activists in the courtroom that have become very close with the family who were very teary-eyed. And of course, the three former officers also had family in the courtroom. That family, also very, very teary-eyed themselves. Taylor Wilson: Well, as you mentioned, Lucas, there's still a separate federal case. What's next for that? Where do we go from here? Lucas Finton: The federal case still has sentencing and that'll see all of the five original officers be sentenced. We had Desmond Mills and Emmitt Martin, both of them entered plea deals and it's not clear what their sentences will be on that front. As for Demetrius Haley, Tadarrius Bean, and Justin Smith, the three officers that were on trial both federally and in state court, they have their own federal convictions. Demetrius Haley was convicted on all four charged counts, and so he could face up to life in federal prison. And if that's the sentence the judge decides for him, he could spend it all there. There is no parole in the federal system. Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean, they were only found guilty on the witness tampering charge. They were acquitted of the other counts having to do with violating Tyre Nichols's civil rights. And so, that charge could see them sentenced up to 20 years. We don't know which sentence they'll receive, but that'll be coming down in the next couple of weeks. Taylor Wilson: We'll keep an eye out there. Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, part of the USA TODAY network. Thank you, Lucas. Lucas Finton: Thanks, Taylor. ♦ Taylor Wilson: Millions of Americans could lose Medicaid health insurance coverage under different Republican congressional proposals to cut spending to support President Trump's tax cuts and domestic policy agenda. The estimates of people who could lose Medicaid coverage range from 2.3 million to 8.6 million under different proposals floated by congressional Republicans according to an analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. Congressional Democrats asked the CBO to analyze five scenarios that Republicans have reportedly discussed as the House Energy and Commerce Committee seeks $880 billion in savings and spending reductions from Medicaid and other programs under its jurisdiction. It's still unclear what Medicaid cuts Republicans might pursue. House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters earlier this week that Republicans have ruled out reducing federal payments to states that have expanded Medicaid. Johnson also appeared to be leaning against per capita caps on states that have expanded Medicaid. You can read more with the link in today's show notes. ♦ The CEOs of the five largest US airlines today plan to back the Trump administration's proposal to spend tens of billions of dollars to reform the aging air traffic control system and to boost hiring. They'll speak at an event where Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will detail its proposal to Congress. Other aviation industry companies will also attend, as will some relatives of the 67 people killed in the January collision of an American Airlines regional jet and a US Army helicopter near Reagan National Airport. ♦ The White House has cut off billions in federal funding from major American research universities and some think China could benefit. I spoke with USA TODAY education reporter Zach Schermele to learn more. Hey there, Zach. Zach Schermele: Hey, Taylor. Taylor Wilson: So, before we get to this moment that we're in now, Zach, let's just go back to the Higher Education Act of 1965 and just give us a refresher if you would. What did this establish back then? Zach Schermele: So, the Higher Education Act, what nerds like me call the HEA, was a landmark federal law that Lyndon B. Johnson signed. It established the college financial aid system and rules that colleges have to follow if they want to participate in that system, among lots of other things, everything from Pell Grants to student loans to funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities is in there. And it was signed kind of right at the beginning of really a turning point in the federal government's relationship with universities. In the decades since it was signed, billions of dollars in federal investment in research has largely kept growing because maintaining US competitiveness by investing in universities and in higher education was really a bipartisan issue for quite a while. Taylor Wilson: All right. So, it seems like China might be able to benefit here, Zach, how so? Zach Schermele: So, a former president at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently wrote an interesting article in Foreign Affairs Magazine and he said that China could fill the void of a looming brain drain, he called it, of scientific talent from the US. He said that the Trump administration risks draining a crucial source of new ideas for industry and the military, even as geopolitical threats continue to grow. Also, one of the most passionate voices around the Trump administration's recent cuts to research funding at colleges has been Maura Healey, who's the Democratic governor of Massachusetts. Healey was one of the first Democrats to really start painting Trump's funding cuts to universities as a national security and an economic issue. She says that China is on college campuses in the US, recruiting scientists, and that makes America less safe, in her words, and less competitive, and she argues that it would have really big ripple effects for the economy. Taylor Wilson: Zach, you write that there are some echoes of the Space Race in this moment. Can you talk through that? Zach Schermele: Throughout the early 20th century, politicians in Washington were really conflicted about whether or not to increase federal support for higher education, and that continues today. But with the launch of Sputnik, which was the first satellite to orbit the Earth from the Soviet Union, kind of a logjam broke. So, in the ensuing decades, the federal government really massively boosted funding for university research. And then as the Cold War faded, so did some of the arguments about colleges' roles in keeping the US competitive and safe, and as Americans views of higher education soured. But that worry about needing to maintain US competitiveness seems to really be coming back now in the wake of these cuts, even from some Republicans in Congress who have really been loath to criticize the president. The one in particular is Senator Todd Young, a Republican from Indiana who co-wrote an editorial in the Washington Post in March where he urged more federal investment in scientific research. And he said that just as the US did when the Soviet Union drew ahead in the Space Race, the US needs to meet this moment by accelerating investments, not curbing them. Taylor Wilson: And just in terms of Trump's perspective or the Trump administration's perspective on all this, what do we hear from them? Zach Schermele: So, the administration really has taken a very skeptical view of American higher education. And a lot of the pressure campaign that Trump and other Republicans have engaged in against universities has come, they say, from concerns about curbing anti-Semitism on college campuses in the wake of protests related to the Israel-Hamas war. But they and other critics also say that federal spending on higher ed has just gotten out of hand and colleges have never really at any point in American history said they had enough money, even as the cost of college has risen over the last century. Taylor Wilson: All right. Another interesting piece from you, Zach. Folks can find the link in today's show notes. Zachary Schermele covers education for USA TODAY. Thanks, Zach. Zach Schermele: Thanks, Taylor. ♦ Taylor Wilson: Today is VE Day or Victory in Europe Day, marking 80 years since the close of the European Theater in World War II when Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies. The fighting in Europe stopped when the chief of staff of the German Armed Forces High Command, Alfred Jodl, surrendered at General Dwight D. Eisenhower's Allied headquarters on May 7th, 1945. You can check out some historic photos from the moments after with a link in today's show notes. ♦ And later today, aging is often framed as something to resist or reverse, but what if our later years can be just as vibrant as the early ones? Dr. Eric Topol: We don't really want to live to 110 and be demented or have all sorts of other chronic diseases. But on the other hand, if we could live well into our 90s and have no chronic diseases, that would be the goal. Taylor Wilson: Dr. Eric Topol's research into healthy agers has revealed what is myth and what is fact when it comes to aging well. Dr. Topol shares his findings in a new book, Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity. Hear that conversation with my colleague Dana Taylor today after 4:00 PM Eastern Time. ♦ Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio. And as always, if you have any comments or questions, you can email us at podcasts@usatodaycom. I'm Taylor Wilson. I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.
The Journal
08-05-2025
- The Journal
Three former US police officers acquitted in fatal beating of man that sparked national protest
THREE FORMER MEMPHIS police officers were acquitted of charges yesterday, including second-degree murder, in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols. The 29-year-old died after he ran away from a traffic stop, a death that sparked nationwide protests and prompted renewed calls for police reforms in the US. A jury, which appeared to be all white, took just over eight hours over two days to find Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith not guilty on all charges after a nine-day trial in state court in Memphis. After the jury's verdict was read out, the defendants hugged their lawyers as relatives of the former officers cried. One relative yelled: 'Thank you, Jesus.' The three defendants still face the prospect of years in prison after they were convicted of federal charges last year, though they were acquitted of the most serious charges then, too. Nichols, a black man, fled a traffic stop after he was pulled out of his car, pepper-sprayed and hit with a Taser. Former Memphis Police Department officers Demetrius Haley, centre, Tadarrius Bean, left, and Justin Smith Jr after they were acquitted (Chris Day/Commercial Appeal/USA Today Network via AP) PA PA Five officers who are also black caught up with him and punched, kicked and hit Nichols with a police baton, struggling to handcuff him as he called out for his mother just steps from his home. Nichols died January 10 2023, three days after the beating and the incident directed intense scrutiny of police in Memphis, a majority-black city. Footage of the beating captured by a police pole camera also showed the officers milling about, talking and laughing as Nichols struggled. Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, who represents Nichols' family, issued a statement expressing outrage at the verdict. 'Today's verdicts are a devastating miscarriage of justice,' the statement reads. 'The world watched as Tyre Nichols was beaten to death by those sworn to protect and serve.' Memphis District Attorney Steve Mulroy said he respects the jury but thinks the evidence was there for every charge that prosecutors brought. He said he spoke to Nichols' family briefly and 'they were devastated … I think they were outraged, and we can understand why they would be outraged, given the evidence.' Prosecutors said the officers beat Nichols out of frustration Former Memphis officer Desmond Mills Jr, who was also charged in Nichols' death, gave evidence as a prosecution witness. Mills and another officer involved in the beating, Emmitt Martin, have agreed to plead guilty to the state charges and did not stand trial under deals with prosecutors. They also pleaded guilty in federal court, where sentencing for all five officers is pending. The officers had been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. The officers were accused of using unnecessary force during the arrest of Nichols. They were frustrated, angry and full of adrenaline after Nichols fled the traffic stop, prosecutor Paul Hagerman said in opening statements. Assistant District Attorney Paul Hagerman, top left, speaks the RowVauhn Wells, second from right, and her family before the verdict for three former Memphis police officers accused in the 2023 fatal beating of her son, Tyre Nichols, was read in court. PA PA They were 'overcome by the moment', the prosecutor said. 'Nobody is going to call them monsters,' Hagerman said. 'It doesn't take monsters to kill a man.' Advertisement Prosecutors argued that the officers used excessive, deadly force in trying to handcuff Nichols and were criminally responsible for each others' actions. They also said the officers had a duty to intervene and stop the beating and tell medical personnel that Nichols had been hit repeatedly in the head, but they failed to do so. The defence attempted to refute accusations that the officers used excessive force to subdue Nichols and followed police policies and standards. Defence lawyers have said the officer who acted with the most violence was Martin, who kicked and punched Nichols several times in the head but is not standing trial. The defence also seemed to score points with their use-of-force experts, who testified that officers on trial acted in compliance with police department policies and widely accepted law enforcement standards. Lawyers for Bean and Smith called character witnesses who testified that the men were good men and officers who did their job the right way. Mills testified that he regrets his failure to stop the beating, which led to Nichols' death from blunt force trauma. Nichols suffered tears and bleeding in the brain, Dr Marco Ross, the medical examiner who performed the post-mortem examination, said in court evidence. As Nichols struggled with Bean and Smith, who were holding him on the ground, Mills tried to pepper-spray Nichols, but he ended up spraying himself, he said. After stepping away to try to recover, Mills then walked up to Nichols and hit his arm three times with a police baton. Mills told prosecutor Paul Hagerman that he hit Nichols with the baton because he was angry over the pepper spray. Mills acknowledged in the witness box that he had a duty to intervene to stop the beating, but did not. But Mills also said Nichols was actively resisting arrest and not complying with orders to present his hands to be cuffed. During the trial, defence lawyer John Keith Perry asked Mills if he would have struck Nichols with the baton if Nichols had just put his hands behind his back. Mills said no. Martin Zummach, Smith's lawyer, asked Mills if an officer is safe if a suspect is not handcuffed and searched for a weapon. Mills said they were not safe in that circumstance. Nichols was not searched before he ran from the traffic stop. Mills acknowledged that the officers were afraid and exhausted, but said some of the methods used on Nichols complied with police department policies, including using wrist locks and hitting with a baton. Zummach noted in closing arguments that credit and debit cards that did not belong to Nichols were found in his car when it was searched after the beating and said it was likely why Nichols ran from the traffic stop. Defense lawyers have argued that the fatal beating would not have taken place if Nichols had just allowed himself to be handcuffed. 'This is Emmitt Martin's and Tyre Nichols' doing,' Zummach said. The defense also suggested Nichols was on drugs, giving him the strength to fight off five strong officers. Some mushrooms containing the hallucinogenic psilocybin were also found in his car, a TBI agent testified. However, a toxicology report showed Nichols only had alcohol and a small amount of marijuana in his system. Mills admitted Nichols never punched or kicked any of the officers. Defence lawyers also claimed Bean and Smith could not see the strikes to Nichols' head because they were blinded by pepper spray and they had tunnel vision as they tried to restrain Nichols. But prosecutors sowed doubt on that claim by pointing to comments the defendants made after the beating. According to footage from the scene, Bean said Nichols was 'eating' the blows and Smith said they hit Nichols with 'so many pieces', or punches. Smith also said 'hit him' and Haley said 'beat that man', prosecutor Tanisha Johnson said. In December, the US Justice Department said a 17-month investigation showed the Memphis Police Department uses excessive force and discriminates against black people.
NDTV
08-05-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
Ex-US Cops Acquitted In Beating Death Of Black Motorist
Washington: Three former Memphis police officers were found not guilty of all charges Wednesday in the beating death of a Black motorist that sparked calls for police reform, local media reported. Five Black police officers were charged in connection with the January 2023 death of Tyre Nichols, 29, who was kicked, punched, tased and pepper sprayed. The five officers, members of a since-disbanded special anti-crime squad called the Scorpion Unit, were captured on video beating Nichols during a traffic stop near his home in the Tennessee city of Memphis. He died at a hospital three days later. Two of the officers pleaded guilty to state and federal charges while the three others -- Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith -- chose to go to trial. A jury acquitted Bean, Haley and Smith on Wednesday of all of the state charges they faced, including the most serious charge of second-degree murder, the Commercial Appeal reported. The Memphis newspaper said the mostly white jury deliberated for eight and a half hours before delivering the not guilty verdict. Bean, Haley and Smith have already been convicted of federal charges including witness tampering and could face up to 20 years in prison. Haley was also convicted of using excessive force. Sentencing was delayed until the conclusion of the state trial. The two other former Memphis police officers, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills, reached plea agreements in the state and federal cases in which they pleaded guilty to using excessive force and witness tampering. Then-vice president Kamala Harris attended Nichols's funeral and his relatives were invited to president Joe Biden's State of the Union address in Washington.
France 24
08-05-2025
- Politics
- France 24
Ex-US police officers acquitted in beating death of Black motorist
Five Black police officers were charged in connection with the January 2023 death of Tyre Nichols, 29, who was kicked, punched, tased and pepper sprayed. The five officers, members of a since-disbanded special anti-crime squad called the Scorpion Unit, were captured on video beating Nichols during a traffic stop near his home in the Tennessee city of Memphis. He died at a hospital three days later. Two of the officers pleaded guilty to state and federal charges while the three others -- Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Justin Smith -- chose to go to trial. A jury acquitted Bean, Haley and Smith on Wednesday of all of the state charges they faced, including the most serious charge of second-degree murder, the Commercial Appeal reported. The Memphis newspaper said the mostly white jury deliberated for eight and a half hours before delivering the not guilty verdict. Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, prominent civil rights attorneys who have represented the Nichols family, condemned the verdict as a "devastating miscarriage of justice." "Tyre's life was stolen, and his family was denied the justice they so deeply deserve," they said in a statement. "We are outraged, and we know we are not alone." Bean, Haley and Smith have already been convicted of federal charges including witness tampering and could face up to 20 years in prison. Haley was also convicted of using excessive force. Sentencing was delayed until the conclusion of the state trial. The two other former Memphis police officers, Emmitt Martin and Desmond Mills, reached plea agreements in the state and federal cases in which they pleaded guilty to using excessive force and witness tampering. Then-vice president Kamala Harris attended Nichols's funeral and his relatives were invited to president Joe Biden's State of the Union address in Washington.
