Two men say one of the Memphis police officers accused of killing Tire Nichols pointed a gun at them

By Deon J. Hampton and Corky Siemaszko -

MEMPHIS, Tennessee — Two residents of this still-shaken city told NBC News, sister network of Noticias Telemundo, that one of the former police officers accused of killing 29-year-old Tire Nichols pointed a gun at them three years ago and threatened to shoot them. both in the face.

Glenn Harris, 24, and Demarius Hervey, 27, described their violent encounter with former Memphis police officer Emmitt Martin III just days after the department released body camera videos of Nichols' arrest and of police surveillance, sparking angry protests against police violence in Memphis and across the country.

[Memphis police remove a seventh officer from his job for the brutal beating that took the life of Tire Nichols]

Harris and Hervey, who say they are brothers, said Sunday they were standing outside a downtown gas station in August 2020 when police cars suddenly surrounded them.

Fearing arrest because they had been smoking marijuana and had a small amount of weed on them, as well as a registered handgun, the brothers admitted they tried to flee in Harris's car.

Emmitt Martin IIIMemphis Police Department via AP

“I freaked out,” Harris said, adding that he was able to evade police for about two miles (three kilometers) before crashing his car.

“When I got out of the vehicle and tried to run, that's when Officer Emmitt grabbed me.

He knocked me to the ground and pulled out his gun,” he recalled.

Harris said Martin pinned him to the pavement with a knee to the neck and held a service gun to his head.

"I'm going to blow your face off," Martin threatened, according to Harris.

[Three Retired Officers Talk About Tire Nichols Video: 'It's A Throwback To Old Police Procedures']

Hervey said Martin also threatened to shoot him in the face.

Stacy Harris, the brothers' mother, said Monday that Glenn Harris called her hours after the arrest and told her about the encounter.

“He told me that (Officer Martin) threw him to the ground, pointed the gun at him and told him he was going to 'blow his head off,'” Stacy Harris said, adding that she immediately freaked out and feared for her son's life. .

She said all three of her children had run-ins with Memphis officers.

At the time Harris told her mother about the encounter, they did not know the agent was Martin.

It wasn't until Harris saw Martin on television during coverage of the Nichols case that he identified the officer as the one who had threatened him.

Attorney Arthur Horne, who represented Glenn Harris in the case, said Harris walked into his office a few days after the encounter and told him that the police had been aggressive and arrested him.

[In Memphis, where Tire Nichols was beaten to death, Latinos also denounce police persecution and harassment]

“He said an officer pulled out a gun and put it to his head and said the N [nigger] word to him,” Horne said.

"I told her she could go to Internal Affairs, but they probably wouldn't do anything."

Harris said she did not file a complaint because her main concern was getting out of jail.

Horne said Monday they were undecided on whether to file one now.

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Martin's attorney, William Massey, and the city's police union did not return phone calls seeking comment Tuesday.

A spokesman for the Memphis Police Department declined to comment because Harris never filed a complaint for excessive use of force.

An affidavit of complaint dated August 2, 2020 and signed by Agent E. Martin that was obtained by NBC News confirms that Harris and Hervey were taken into custody after Harris crashed the black Nissan Maxima she was driving, and following a brief pursuit. walking.

Harris is charged in the complaint with possession of a handgun under the influence of alcohol, reckless driving, driving with a suspended/revoked/cancelled license, leaving the scene of an accident and evading arrest.

[Memphis police dismantle the SCORPION unit, responsible for the fatal beating of Tire Nichols]

No charges were filed against Hervey, but police said in the affidavit that they found a small bag of what appeared to be marijuana in his right pants pocket and "more than $194 in various denominations."

"Harris had more than $2,960 on him," according to the affidavit, which also mentions that police found a scale and a gun with 15 rounds "in the magazine."

Harris and Hervey said Martin didn't need to threaten them the way he did.

"I was wrong, he shouldn't have a gun pointed at me," Harris said of Martin.

This is what the corner of the neighborhood where five police officers savagely beat Tire Nichols looks like during the day

Jan 30, 202302:45

Martin, 30, a former college football player who was hired by the Memphis Police Department in March 2018, was fired Jan. 20 along with teammates Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith.

An administrative investigation determined that they had violated the department's policy on the use of force during Nichols' arrest.

They were charged Thursday with second-degree murder, two counts of official misconduct, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, one count of official oppression and one count of aggravated assault.

[This is what is known about the five officers accused of the death of Tire Nichols]

Like Nichols, all five former agents are black.

A sixth Memphis Police Department officer, Preston Hemphill, who appears on video firing a Taser at Nichols on Jan. 7, has been relieved of duty, the department announced Monday.

Hemphill has not been charged with any crime and is cooperating with investigators.

In the photos he appears Caucasian.

Nichols, an amateur photographer and skateboarder, was hospitalized in critical condition and died three days after traffic control.

Multiple police videos released Friday showed officers punching, kicking and beating Nichols with a baton.

Nichols managed to escape and was about 80 yards (73 meters) from his home when the pursuing police recaptured him.

The video showed several officers assaulting Nichols as he yelled for help from his mother.

Two Shelby County Sheriff's Office deputies have also been relieved of duty pending an administrative investigation into Nichols' death, Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. announced Friday night after first viewing the video.