A Tennessee court on Wednesday acquitted all state charges against the three policemen involved in the 2023 deadly beating of Tyre Nichols.
Former officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith were found not guilty of second-degree murder and all other state charges related to the death of Nichols, NBC News reported Wednesday.
After a nine-day trial in Memphis, it took jurors more than eight hours to reach a conclusion on Wednesday, according to Fox News.
The acquittal was unanimous, according to The New York Times.
Upon hearing the verdict, the three officers hugged each other and their lawyers.
But not everyone shared their sentiment.
“Today’s verdicts are a devastating miscarriage of justice,” Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, the civil rights attorneys representing Nichols’ family, said in a release. “The world watched as Tyre Nichols was beaten to death by those sworn to protect and serve. That brutal, inhumane assault was captured on video, yet the officers responsible were acquitted.”
Former officers Desmond Mills Jr. and Emmitt Martin, who were also involved in the beating, pleaded guilty to federal charges, and they did not stand trial in state court because of deals made with prosecutors, according to Fox News.