Omega Psi Phi severs ties with Memphis Police Officers

By Joseph Green-Bishop

Three of the former Memphis, TN police officers charged with second-degree murder in the death of a 29-year-old resident of that city have been dismissed from the international fraternity in which they were members, according to a letter received by Texas Metro News.

In the January 31, 2023 dated letter, the International Grand Basileus (president) of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Ricky L. Lewis, extended the sympathies of the organization to the family and friends of Tyre Nichols who was fatally beaten by the officers, according to body camera footage released by the Memphis Police Department.

“The fraternity has revoked the memberships of the three former officers,” Mr. Lewis wrote in the letter. “The brutality shown in the video violated our moral sensibilities.”

The former officers are: 24-yearold Tadarrius Bean, 30-year old Demetrius Haley, and 30-year-old Emmitt Martin III, Attempts to reach the national headquarters, located in Decatur, GA, were unsuccessful.

The organization Mr. Lewis leads was founded at Howard University in 1911. It has chapters throughout the country, and the world. Its members include academics, lawyers, doctors, educators, business people,