Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Reuters
When the video of Tyre Nichols’ brutal beating by Memphis police was released to the public a week ago, many—including Nichols’ family—applauded Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis’ swift action in firing the officers involved in his beating, calling it a blueprint for police accountability moving forward.
Davis had recently been seen as a figure willing to speak out for police reform, even to the Senate, following the murder of George Floyd and as a president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.
But to some Atlantans, the beating of Nichols by members of Davis’ newly created (and now disbanded) SCORPION unit in Memphis reminded them of their own violent experience at the hands of another unit Davis commanded in the early 2000’s: the REDDOGs.