BREAKING NEWS: I am being told that Tyre Nichols was in a relationship with and worked at a Memphis @FedEx with #MemphisPolice Demetrius Halys’s ex-girlfriend & baby mama.

After the beating Officer Halys took a pictures of #TyreNichols face and sent it to his babymama. pic.twitter.com/vH8QDstOo8

— Sir Maejor – FBA (@Maejor4Congress) January 30, 2023

If this is true, it puts the entire incident in different context. It was clear from the bodycam video during the initial traffic stop that the former police officers involved were being extremely aggressive. Was this due to some or all of them knowing the victim and possibly holding a jealous grudge? It’s being investigated by Memphis Police. According to Newsweek:

The Memphis Police Department is currently investigating rumors regarding a possible connection between Tyre Nichols and the ex-wife or ex-girlfriend of one of the Memphis cops arrested and charged in Nichols’ death.

On Wednesday morning, Newsweek asked the Shelby County district attorney’s office if it is investigating possible rumors connecting Nichols to the ex-girlfriend or ex-wife of former Memphis cop Demetrius Haley. Additionally, Newsweek asked about rumors that Haley sent photos of Nichols to his ex-wife following the violent arrest of the 29-year-old Black man.

“All of this is still under investigation. Those are the things, along with the participation of others, that [are] now the subject of our investigation,” a spokesperson for the Shelby County district attorney told Newsweek in response.

Erica Williams, the director of communications at the Shelby County district attorney’s office, clarified to Newsweek that rumors about Nichols having a connection to the woman have not been “confirmed.”

The family of Nichols has denied the rumor. According to The Police Tribune:

At a candlelight prayer vigil on Tuesday night the family of Tyre Nichols addressed scandalous rumors that have been spreading online that alleged the late 29 year old had been engaging in an affair with a Memphis police officer’s wife.

Rodney Wells, Nichols’ stepfather, brought up the rumors while he was talking about his stepson at the vigil outside his home, WHBQ reported. “Don’t anybody believe that mess,” Wells told the assembled crowd. “They trying to get out of this. But they’re not.”

The grieving father was referring to online rumors that claimed Nichols’ had worked with one of the officer’s wives at FedEx and had engaged in an illicit relationship with her, TMZ reported.

With idiots like Stephen Colbert and Whoopi Goldberg making dumb statements attaching this incident to racism, learning that there may have been a personal grudge involved could change the narrative. We already know there were clear recruiting and hiring problems within the Memphis Police Department, problems that likely stem from the rise of the Defund Police movement. If the dating rumor is confirmed, it would put another nail into the systemic racism narrative’s coffin.