City of Memphis files response in Tyre Nichols civil lawsuit
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – More than 200 pages outline a lengthy response from City of Memphis attorneys to the family of Tyre Nichols.
The Nichols family is suing the city for $550 million. The response denies most of the claims made by the Nichols’ family in their amended complaint, filed in January 2025.
One of the claims in the amended complaints says, “The MPD has a longstanding custom of brutalizing civilians without justification.”
In the response filed this week, the City denies these claims altogether, saying, “City Defendants deny that Mr. Nichols’ death was the direct result of the policies and practices of the City of Memphis or MPD.”
The complaint from the Nichols family discusses a previous unit within the Atlanta Police Department, where Chief C.J. Davis worked before Memphis, called the “RED DOG” unit.
The claim made by the plaintiffs said the unit was disbanded in 2011 “after multiple high-profile incidents in which its officers used excessive force against civilians.”
The City’s response was denied, adding, “During her time with the Atlanta Police Department, Chief Davis was the Major over Special Operations, and the RED DOG Unit was just one division of many in Special Operations. The RED DOG Unit was about fifteen years old when she took the post, and she held the post for only a few months.”
The complaint mentions a list of other ‘alleged incidents of police brutality’, some of which were mentioned in the federal trial against three former Memphis Police officers. In total, the complaint lists 21 incidents outside of the beating death of Nichols.
For most of these instances, the City responds without denying all of the claims, saying, “Admitted only that all MPD documentation of this encounter speaks for itself.”
The civil case is set for trial in 2026.
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