On January 7, 2023, Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old black man, was fatally injured by five black police officers in Memphis, Tennessee, and died three days later. The officers, all members of the Memphis Police Department (MPD) SCORPION unit, pulled Nichols from his car before pepper spraying and tasering him. Nichols broke free and ran toward his mother's house, which was less than a mile (1.6 km) away. Five black officers caught up with Nichols near the house, where they punched, kicked and pepper sprayed him, and struck him with a baton. Medics on the scene failed to administer care for 16 minutes after arriving. Nichols was admitted to the hospital in critical condition.

Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County, in the southwesternmost part of the state, and is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-most populous city in Tennessee after Nashville.