Tyre Nichols was brutally killed by five Black police officers. How did we get here?

Diversifying departments is one of the oldest methods of police reform, but Black cops are not immune to adopting the racism of the system

It wasn't supposed to be this way for Emmitt Martin III. He graduated from Bethel University in McKenzie, Tennessee, with a degree in criminal justice and played tight end and fullback on the football team all four years. Friends of Martin said he was a role model to his two younger siblings and regularly posted about his love for his young daughter on social media.

Martin told people that when he joined the Memphis police department in spring of 2018, he wanted to make a difference. He was a member of Omega Psi Phi, a historically Black fraternity whose founding principles are manhood, scholarship, perseverance and uplifting society. Martin's policing performance evaluations show that he exceeded expectations in judgment, reliability and dealing with the public. Few would be faulted for thinking he'd have the safety of Black people in mind as he patrolled their communities. Even fewer would imagine he'd take part in the savage beating death of another Black man, an assault that even the police chief called a failing of basic humanity toward another individual", an act that was heinous, reckless and inhumane".