Despite a series of conflicts, the Memphis police force had not been in the center of the recent national debates over policing. The death of Tyre Nichols changed that.
Social media posts show that Mr. Nichols harbored a mistrust of prevailing government and economic systems, yet, a friend says, he also considered trying to change policing from the inside.
As the city awaits video of the fatal encounter with Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, a law enforcement official described the footage as “absolutely appalling.”