MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WTVF) — Another Memphis man — who was allegedly beaten by the same officers arrested for the death of Tyre Nichols — filed a $5 million lawsuit
against the City of Memphis and the individual officers.
The suit was filed against Emittt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., Justin Smith, Demetrious Haley Tadarrius Bean and four others known as John Does 1-4. These men were part of the now-disbanded Scorpian unit.
In the midst of these events, one fruit borne of Mr. Nichols’ solitary death is the exposure of another brutal Memphis Police Department encounter with yet another young, African-American Memphian named Monterrious Harris," attorney Robert Spence, Jr. wrote. "This lawsuit is Mr. Harris’ account of the unconstitutional abuse and suffering at the hands of the very same police unit that extinguished the life of Mr. Nichols."
Harris, 22, was attacked three days before Tyre Nichols, after backing into a parking space at his cousin's apartment complex.
"Since the men were wearing black ski masks that covered their faces and Memphis Police Department paraphernalia was not immediately apparent or visible, Mr. Harris reasonably concluded that he was being robbed," Spence Jr. wrote. "None of the men wearing black ski-masks who approached Mr. Harris’ vehicle asked him for his license, vehicle registration, or advised him of the reason they had surrounded his vehicle."
Harris alleges during the assault his face was slammed into a concrete walkway. Once others started noticing the attack, the unit's members handcuffed him and transported to him jail, even though he was bleeding from his head, had a swollen left eye, had difficulty walking because his right was swollen and his left leg was gashed from the assault.
The suit alleges the officers falsified an affidavit of complaint and included false charges against Harris.
The lawsuit named previous other practices of the Memphis Police Department that led to other civilians facing hurt at the hand of police.
"Since its organization, the Scorpion Unit has terrorized numerous citizens, especially African-American men, in communities throughout the City of Memphis. Specifically, at all times relevant hereto, the Scorpion Unit marauded around African-American neighborhoods and harassed citizens by performing suspicion-less custodial and automobile stops for which there were no legal justifications."
