A “cloud of dishonor.” Memphis police officials on Saturday disbanded the discredited “Scorpion” unit one day after five of its officers were seen on video savagely beating Tyre Nichols on a street earlier this month. Nichols never recovered. The officers have been charged with murder. The Associated Press The unit was created in 2021 to patrol high-crime neighborhoods. The Washington Post How the cops first described the episode. The Washington Post Two Shelby County Sheriff’s deputies were also suspended pending an investigation after they were seen in the video of the attack. Memphis Commercial Appeal Related Commentary: Memphis’ long history of police violence. The New York Times More on Memphis and Tyre Nichols’ death. The head of the Fraternal Order of Police, the nation’s largest police union, says it’s “sickening” that no officers intervened to save Nichols. The Wall Street Journal In Los Angeles, protests over the weekend focused on the recent killing of Keenan Anderson, who died earlier this month after being Tased by LAPD officers. Los Angeles Times Another grim video of police violence is added to the nation’s library. The Washington Post Related Commentary: Memphis’ police department, prone to excessive force and abuse, was bound to result in tragedies like this. The Atlantic  Black officers alone cannot stop brutal policing. Tyre Nichols’ mother says the officers who beat her son earlier this month have brought shame to their families and communities. Others say the five cops, now in jail, failed to live up to their burden of protecting their communities from racialized violence by the police. There’s also a sense that the attack on Nichols points to broader problems within the Memphis Police Department. TMP’s Jamiles Lartey spoke with TMP’s Wilbert Cooper, who comes from a family of police officers, to try to make sense of it all in the latest installment of “Closing Argument,” our weekly newsletter. The Marshall Project
“Charlie McGonigal knew everybody in the national security and law-enforcement world. He fooled them all.” The double-life of the former FBI official now accused of taking money from Russian operatives in what could be one of the biggest breaches of national security in modern U.S. history. He fooled his girlfriend, too, she says. Business Insider More details on McGonigal’s connections to Russian oligarchs. The New York Times More: A federal judge on Friday handed out an 80-month sentence to Julian Khater, one of the men who attacked U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick during the Capitol riot. NBC News Premiering Thursday: “Inside Story” from The Marshall Project and VICE News. Developed by formerly incarcerated people, this first-of-its-kind video series brings critical accountability and investigative journalism on the criminal justice system to incarcerated people—and those on the outside, too. Hosted and co-created by TMP’s Lawrence Bartley, the show is a collaboration with the Emmy-winning VICE News team. Each episode will be available online at noon EST every Thursday, beginning Feb. 2. The Marshall Project Dancing has resumed at Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio near Monterey Park, California. It was there where the man who fatally shot 11 people at another dance studio had his gun wrestled from his hands by a bystander in an episode captured on video. Los Angeles Times Nearly half of Louisiana’s sheriffs are violating the state’s public records laws that require the preservation of documents and other evidence. Nearly two dozen sheriffs have never received state approval for their local records-retention policy. ProPublica/Verite In a state with a particularly high percentage of elderly prisoners, Oregon legislators are trying to make it easier for terminally ill people to gain compassionate release. Bolts Oklahoma Atty. Gen. Gentner Drummond appointed a special counsel last week to review Richard Glossip’s murder conviction and death sentence. Glossip has claimed innocence for a 1997 murder, and there are questions about biased police work and lost evidence in the case. The Associated Press Six residents of Teller County, Colorado, have sued their sheriff for partnering with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to turn detainees over to federal agents after they’ve posted bond. Such agreements violate state law, ACLU attorneys claim. Colorado Sun The sheriff, Jason Mikesell, says he isn’t violating state law. Colorado Sun The death of Tyre Nichols: Diversifying police departments won’t help. “What will help are new laws that fundamentally change how police departments operate, whether it’s requiring more active monitoring of officers’ mental health or somehow changing their role in carrying out traffic stops.” Los Angeles Times More: A good start for the Justice Department as it, too, begins an investigation into the Memphis Police Department. MSNBC Some battles are worth fighting. A new book remembers the role of the activist lawyers who defended the rights of prisoners following the Attica uprising in 1971. Inquest TMP Context: Revisiting the Attica riot in real time, 50 years later. The Marshall Project The case for the Federal Independent Oversight Act. The Justice Department, and the Bureau of Prisons, are failing victims of sexual assault in federal prisons. Medium Another scandal for FBI Director Christopher Wray. The arrest and indictment of former FBI official Charles McGonigal is the latest example of a wayward agency bereft of accountability. The Washington Post The calamity of our probation system. A Minnesota woman’s 40-year probation term is an apt symbol of a system that was supposed to be an alternative to imprisonment but which instead has become another form of government control. Reason Correction. In Friday’s Opening Statement, in our story about our decision to make our work available for free to prisoners using tablets, we misidentified News Inside, The Marshall Project’s print publication distributed to hundreds of prisons around the country. And we gave TMP’s Lawrence Bartley the wrong title. He is publisher of The Marshall Project Inside. We apologize for the errors. Even gun owners favor broad laws requiring parents to secure their firearms so their children don’t shoot themselves and others. The Washington Post More: “Damn, that’s scary,” says an NRA board member; federal data reveals a sharp drop in contributions in 2022 to the National Rifle Association’s political action committee. The Trace When protesters are called terrorists. Georgia prosecutors are relying on a controversial 2017 state law to charge “Cop City” protesters in Atlanta with terrorism. There’s no public evidence yet to suggest they allegedly committed crimes other than misdemeanors. Civil libertarians had warned about the free-speech implications of the law. Grist Truth and consequences. Two New York lawyers burned a police car during anti-police protests in 2020. They both have been sentenced to prison terms and stripped of their law licenses. The New York Times The case for behavioral threat assessments to prevent mass violence. A proactive approach can help law enforcement officials and community leaders intervene with at-risk people before they become mass shooters, a new government report concludes. U.S. Secret Service Man in the middle. Assistant Atty. Gen. Carlos Uriarte says he’s prepared to respond on behalf of the Justice Department to the coming wave of investigations launched by House Republicans. Los Angeles Times | 
