SCORPION Unit 'permanently deactivated' after Tyre Nichols death

The Memphis Police Department has deactivated its SCORPION Unit, the task force at the center of Nichols' death, the department said Saturday.

The decision came after Chief Cerelyn Davis met with other members of the unit, who agreed with the deactivation, according to a statement from the department.

"In the process of listening intently to the family of Tyre Nichols, community leaders, and the uninvolved officers who have done quality work in their assignments, it is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate the SCORPION Unit," the statement said.

All five officers fired and charged in connection with Nichols' death were in the unit, which had been inactive since the fatal encounter.

The 40-officer SCORPION unit, which stands for Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods, launched in November 2021 and focused on "high crime hotspots," the department said at the time.

Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, the attorneys representing the family, had repeatedly called to end the unit.

"You have a man literally laying down in distress, dying, and people are just talking like this is business as usual. Had Tyre not succumbed to his injuries, how many more times would they have done this and how many times have they done it before?" he told ABC News on Friday.

Crump and Romanucci said in a joint statement Saturday that they and Nichols' family found the disbandment of the unit "to be both appropriate and proportional to the tragic death of Tyre Nichols, and also a decent and just decision for all citizens of Memphis."

Former President Barack Obama called on people to "reimagine public safety" in response to Nichols' fatal encounter with police.

"The vicious, unjustified beating of Tyre Nichols and his ultimate death at the hands of five Memphis police officers is just the latest, painful reminder of how far America still has to go in fixing how we police our streets," he said in a joint statement with Michelle Obama on Twitter that included a selfie of Nichols by water. "Along with mourning Tyre and supporting his family, it’s up to all of us to mobilize for lasting change."

The attorney representing former Memphis Police Officer Desmond Mills, one of the five charged in Tyre Nichols' death, released a statement saying the videos "produced as many questions as they have answers," Blake Ballin, an attorney for Mills said.

"Some of the questions that remain will require a focus on Desmond Mills’s individual actions; on what Desmond knew and what he was able to see when he arrived late to the scene; on what Desmond knew and what he was able to see after he was pepper sprayed; and on whether Desmond’s actions crossed the lines that were crossed by other officers during this incident," Ballin said.

"We continue to urge caution and patience in judging Desmond Mills’s actions. We are confident that the questions of whether Desmond crossed the lines that others crossed and whether he committed the crimes charged will be answered with a resounding no," Ballin added.

Vice President Kamala Harris reacted to the footage of Nichols' confrontation with police officers.

"Tyre Nichols should have made it home to his family. Yet, once again, America mourns the life of a son and father brutally cut short at the hands of those sworn to protect and serve," she said in a statement. "The footage and images released tonight will forever be seared in our memories, and they open wounds that will never fully heal."