One of the five former Memphis police officers charged with murder in the death of Tyre Nichols was the president of a fraternity that has been involved in several scandals in recent years.
His LinkedIn page says that Tadarrius Bean, who is 24 years old, was president of the Eta Zeta chapter of Omega Psi Phi at the University of Mississippi.
The fraternity was started in 1911 at Howard University, a college for black people in Washington, D.C. Omega’s website says that it is “on the front lines, using its power, influence, and more than 100 years of dedication to help our people and our communities.”
But in the past few years, the fraternity and its members have been involved in a number of troubling events.
The Virginian-Pilot said that the Omega chapter at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, was shut down in 2019 because of a number of disturbing incidents involving pledges or people who wanted to join the group. At least one pledge was hospitalized.
Potential newcomers were beaten, and some were forced to chug hot sauce or pour it down their pants to make it look like they had a sexually transmitted disease.
In 2018, a 45-year-old man who wanted to join an Omega Psi Phi chapter in Brooklyn had his buttocks and testicles paddled between 150 and 200 times as part of a weird “welcoming ritual.” This led to two members of the fraternity being charged with assault and hazing.
During a traffic stop on Jan. 7, police beat, pepper sprayed, and tasered Nichols, according to disturbing body cam footage released Friday. The FedEx worker and father of a 4-year-old boy, who was 29, died in the hospital three days later.
Bean is one of the five officers who have been charged with second-degree murders, as well as aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct, and official oppression.
The officers were released from the Shelby County Jail on Friday after each paid between $250,000 and $350,000 in bail.
Read more about Tyre Nichols’ death by beating in the Post.
Omega Psi Phi didn’t answer right away when asked for a comment.
»President of scandal-plagued fraternity was former Memphis police officer who killed Tyre Nichols«