Former Memphis officers charged in Tyre Nichols' death assaulted another Black motorist days before, lawsuit claims
A month after Tyre Nichols' death, following his brutal beating by Memphis police officers, another Black man has come forward claiming he was the victim of a similar assault.
Monterrious Harris has filed a $5 million lawsuit against the officers and the City of Memphis, claiming he was attacked on Jan. 4, just three days before Nichols was beaten.
"The officer, he was like, 'Stop reaching for the gun,'" Harris said. "And I know that I didn't have a gun. I didn't know what else to do besides just let them do what they were doing to me."
The 22-year-old Army Veteran was booked on a charge of gun possession as a convicted felon. Harris spent several days in jail.
Attorneys for the five charged officers had no comment on the lawsuit.
The Shelby County District Attorney's Office said it is now reviewing every open and closed case involving the five former officers, now facing second-degree murder charges. Former Shelby County prosecutor Josh Corman said the review is warranted.
"I think it would be a nightmare for a prosecutor to try to use any of those five officers as witnesses in cases any more," Corman said Friday. "So a prosecutor is going to have to look at those cases, probably all of those cases on a case by case basis to figure out if those are cases that they can still meet their burden of proof."
Internal disciplinary documents obtained by CBS News reveal more about the officers' encounter with Nichols.
Demetrius Haley, who can be heard shouting that Nichols tried to grab one of the officers' guns in video of the arrest, shared a photograph he took of Nichols as the 29-year-old lay slumped on the ground, according to the documents.
Justin Smith and Tadarrius Bean are accused of punching Nichols several times and holding his arms while other officers assaulted him, according to the documents.
Smith was the only officer to defend his actions on the record, stating that he propped Nichols up against the squad car after the violent struggle "so he could breath [sic] better" and called for medical assistance.
The former officers are due in court on criminal charges, for the first time, next week.
