tonight, tyre nichols. his name a rallying cry. surveillance and police body camera footage of this violent beating at the hands of police stunned the nation. >> i realize why my stomach was hurting. that was my son's life being taken. and i was feeling it. >> byron: the tyre they loved and lost. a free spirit. a mother's grief and grit. >> they're going to see me at every court date. every one. until we get justice for my son.

>> byron: inside a family's fight. >> what made you take a picture? >> to show the world what the police did to my son. >> byron: what we learned after spending five months in the community. >> i was punched. i was kicked. and one guy take my head and slammed it to the concrete. and he had put a gash on my forehead. instead of protecting people, they are hurting people. >> byron: was there a pattern of abuse? the other alleged victims of memphis police and the activists demanding change. tyree nichols did not die in vain? >> no, definitely didn't. >> byron: this special edition of "nightline," "tyree nichols: what did i do?" will be right back. op and bucket clean in half the time. our new cleaning pad has hundreds of scrubbing strips- that absorb and lock dirt away, ( ♪ ) and it has a 360-degree swivel head-

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but with kaiser permanente you can choose your doctor who works with other best-in-class specialists to care for all that is you. "nightline," "tyre nichols: what did i do" continues now. here's byron pitts. >> byron: good evening. thank you for joining us. it's a tale too familiar in america. tyre nichols, a young black man, supposedly high on drugs with superhuman strength, driving recklessly, attacking police officers. but police body camera and surveillance footage told an entirely different story, one that shocked the nation. a vicious beating at the hands of a specialized unit of the memphis police fort. his heartbreaking final words, screaming for his mother, asking, "what did i do?"

♪ >> today is the day. pack tyre's room up. this is going to be a difficult time. because -- what mother wants to pack up their son's room? knowing that he'll never come back? sorry for the mess. tyre, he cleans his room up every sunday. and so -- his demise was on a saturday. so he didn't get a chance to clean up his room. >> say his name! >> tyre nichols! >> byron: it's been five months

since tyre nichols' name became a rallying cry. >> tyre nichols! >> byron: protesters across the country demanded justice for this 29-year-old who died after being beaten by men who took an oath to protect and serve. >> tyre nichols! >> byron: much of it captured on body and security cameras. >> he was a human pinata for those police officers. it was an unadulterated, unabashed, nonstop beating of this young boy for three minutes. >> oh my god. >> byron: even the police agreed. >> this incident was heinous, reckless, and inhumane. >> i have seen the video myself, and i will tell you, i was appalled. >> byron: once again, america is forced to look deeply at the divide between race and the culture of policing. >> i think that race and racism

are actually a fundamental part of the culture of policing. people have to recognize that law enforcement in the united states has roots in slave pa patrols. >> byron: from government leaders to grassroot organizers, calls for change are growing louder. >> i'm here to voice total opposition to giving police more funding. >> byron: and the new family that's joined the chorus. >> there's all these senseless police brutality killings that are still happening every day. we want justice. we want this to happen. >> byron: so tell me about your son, tell me about tyre. >> tyre -- tyre is one of those special individuals that does what tyre wants to do. he is not a follower. like i tell people, he'll give you the shirt off of his back if he feels you need it more than

he does. >> me and tyre connected immediately. it was like, i'm his father from day one. we used to go out and throw the football every day. go play basketball. >> byron: for those who knew and loved him, tyre nichols was a breath of fresh air. a razor-thin, 6'4" tall glass of california sunshine. a hugger with a heart for photography. >> he took pictures of my whole wedding and all the pictures around my house are pictures of all the memories that he captured on one of the best days of my life. and that was just who he was. ♪ cut loose footloose ♪ >> byron: a free spirit who felt freest on a skateboard. >> you don't have to have any prerequisites to hang out at the skate park. it's kind of where the misfits

go. for ty, he was a misfit who found his home here. >> he was that type of person who marched to the beat of his own drum. that was something i always appreciated about him. >> byron: it was a saturday night, january 7th. the moon was full. the air was cool. and tyre nichols had no idea his world was about to change. 8:30 p.m. a half mile from home, tyre is pulled over by memphis police. they allege he was driving recklessly. officers yank him out of his car and proceed to beat him. when tyre runs, they pursue him, tackle him. and continue striking him as he cries out for his mother, who was three doors away. >> mom! >> byron: video from a pole surveillance camera documents the undeniable. over the course of the altercation, tyre would be

tased, pepper sprayed, kicked in the head, punched and hit with a baton, often while being restrained by other officers. all the while, a mother's intuition sensing something was wrong. >> i was talking on the phone to my daughter. and i kept telling her, "damn, my stomach is hurting." and i just couldn't understand it. once things started coming to fruition, i realized why my stomach was hurting. that was my son's life being taken, and i was feeling it. >> byron: when tyre's mother and stepfather got to the hospital, they say tyre was unrecognizable. what made you take a picture? >> to show the world what the police had did to my son. >> byron: three days later on january 10th, tyre nichols died. in the days following tyre's encounter with police, five officers involved in the incident wa fired.

all charged with multiple felonies, including second-degree murder. >> a plea of not guilty. >> byron: at their first court appearance, all five officers entered not guilty pleas. rovan sending a message with her presence. >> they're going to see me at every court date. every one. until we get justice for my son. >> byron: desmond mills jr.'s attorney told abc news in january that not all the officers played an equal role. >> i suspect that you're going to see that some officers crossed the line. but it wasn't desmond mills jr. who crossed the line. >> byron: emmitt martin iii's attorney spoke in a press conference televised by watn. >> no one out there that night intended for tyre nichols to die. >> byron: an attorney for

tadarrius bean told watn that bean never struck tyre and was, quote, just doing his job. attorneys for the other arrested officers did not respond to "nightline's" request for comment. the five officers were part of a special department within memphis police called ed s.c.o.r.p.i.o.n., street crimes operation to restore peace in our neighborhoods. >> they came from this corner. >> byron: money darius harris said he knew full well what the scorpion unit was capable of. >> they were saying, open the car, get out of the car, we're going to shoot! >> byron: january 4th, three days before tyre's run-in with police, this 22-year-old says he had his own encounter with these same officers at his cousin's apartment complex. he's filed a lawsuit against the city and the officers involved.

listen to this audio. it turns out when officers were approaching his vehicle, montarius says he was recording a song and captured the encounter. >> i was punched. i was kicked. and one guy take my head and slam it to the concrete. and they had put like a gash on my forehead. >> byron: coming up -- >> maybe i should be scared of these guys. because instead of protecting people, they are hurting people. >> byron: more questions about what montarius calls a clear pattern of abuse. and the memphis activist who's making change in tyre's name. >> tyre nichols did not die in vain? >> no, definitely didn't. enters the room. phil: excuse me? hillary: that wasn't me. narrator: said hillary, who's only taken 347 steps today. hillary: i cycled here. narrator: speaking of cycles, mary's period

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♪ when we found out about the tyre situation, i was like, those are the same five officers that beat me up. it was just like, you know, maybe -- maybe i should be scared of these guys. instead of protecting people, they are hurting people. >> byron: monterrious harris says the beating he received at hands of memphis police left him with several injuries, so severe that when officers took him to shelby county jail, he says a nurse insisted he be taken to the hospital before being booked. an affidavit of complaint for the incident lists the same officers as the ones arrested in tyre nichols' beating. according to the come maintain, the officers said they were at the complex conducting a separate investigation when

monterrious' black chrysler began screeching its tires and drove at detectives at a high rate of speed before stopping. >> no. >> byron: didn't happen? >> no. not at all. >> byron: in the lawsuit, monterrious calls this incident part of a clear pattern of abuse. >> if you look at the affidavit of complaint, they all contain the same general lies about young black men, about these arrests. they had drugs, they fought with the police, they tried to run. it's the same lie over and over and over. >> byron: you make it sound like it's a playbook? >> it is a playbook. you read mr. nichols' encounter with the police officers. they went through the playbook. the same with mr. harris. it spieaks to what is wrong wit the criminal justice system here in memphis. >> byron: what does it mean to be black in memphis? >> i think it means that you are

kind of in a constant state of trauma and apprehension. >> byron: amber sherman has been working to change the local police department for years. what's your relationship with tyre nichols' family? they're very fond of you. >> yeah, i mean, i'm fond of them. i think that everyone deserves to be supported. and that at the time when they needed folks the most, i was glad that i was able to be there to support them and advocate on their behalf, because something definitely needs to change. once again, we told you something like this would happen -- >> byron: following tyree's death, activists went to work, getting the city to pass six new ordinances, including "the driving equality ordinance." it bans stops for low-level traffic violations like a broken taillight. a week after it passed in april, another stop made headlines in memphis. >> policing can be the only job that you can be failing at miserably but still have elected

officials proposing a raise for you. this is immoral. a high school kid was pulled over with friends for a cracked window shield. >> byron: that high schooler, the 18-year-old son of yolanda claxton. >> even before the tyre nichols case, i always told them, if the police pull you over, no matter what it's for, stop. listen. hold your head up. abide by whatever they say. so y'all can come back home. >> byron: yolanda took this video of the aftermath of the incident. >> if he had a gun? thought he had a gun? >> i'm terrified, i can't clean. i think about this incident over and over, and i can't get it out of my head. >> byron: yolanda's son was riding in the back seat with two friends. they say they were pulled over by memphis police on this street, allegedly for a cracked windshield.

>> i don't know why they're talking like it. they ain't even give me a ticket or something. they smashed him against this wall, chipped his tooth. they chipped his tooth. he had to go to the hospital. >> byron: yolanda says cartavius is too shaken up to speak. she claims the encounter left a broken bone in his nose and a chipped teeth. >> his whole demeanor is changed. i'm used to the jokester, always got a joke, always smiling and laughing. he walks around, every day, even at home, he hasn't smiled since the incident. >> you passed the ordinance and a week later, this happens? you hadn't learned from tyre? >> byron: the ordinance named after tyre does not include cracked windshields in the list of reasons why police can't stop drivers. something activists are now working to change. >> we demand that the driving

equality ordinance be amended and expeditiously, adding cracked windshields and cracked windows. >> byron: with all your activism and all that you've seen, the moments of progress that you've seen in memphis, are you optimi optimistic that memphis will move in a positive direction post the life of tyre nichols? >> yeah, i'm definitely more optimistic than i was before. because i've seen what concerted and strategic organizing, you can make change. and i've seen the folks who have gotten involved who were never into city government before. people are going to show and up hold you accountable, and you're going to have to get used to that. >> byron: tyre nichols did not die in vain? >> no, definitely didn't. >> byron: we'll be right back. what's wrong with this one? i just got promoted, so i'm looking for something... more. we all deserve more. ♪ we all deserve some ice cream.

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we'll say it together. ready? one, two, three -- >> tyre! >> tyre! >> byron: in california last weekend, tyre's loved ones honored his passion for skateboarding, having the skate park where he found so much joy and purpose named after him. >> this is amazing. he would be honored a million times. it's like a bittersweet thing that his death had to become the life that he wanted, to be famous or bring a community together, make a change. because that was the type of person he was. >> byron: they've set up a tyre nichols foundation. >> i love that it's just going

to spark that imagination and that love or that curiosity for generations to come. and i know that tyre will be happy and proud of that. >> byron: for rowvaughn wells, just another reminder of how her son's legacy will live on. the people he cared most deeply about. >> i miss my baby so bad. because he the one kept me going. i just hold on to his memory. just try to continue to do things that i know that he would appreciate and that he would want us to do. ♪ ♪

>> byron: if you take nothing else from our broadcast this evening, know this. what happened to tyre nichols could happen to you, could happen to me, or anyone we love. justice requires all of us. it was martin luther king jr. who said, "human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. every step toward ■the goalof justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle. the tireless exertions and passionate concerns of dedicated individuals." you can see the entire report, "never made it home: the story of tyre nichols" on "impact on nightline" streaming on hulu. thanks for the company, america. good night