Who is Candy Nichole? Tyre Nichols protester who punched two cops has prior criminal record
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Candy Nichole, who was arrested and charged for allegedly punching two police officers during a Tyre Nichols demonstration in Times Square, was reportedly freed without bail on Saturday, January 28. There was outrage across the nation after Memphis officials released bodycam footage that showed how brautally Nichols was beaten. Upon releasing the footage, the police commissioner of Memphis warned that the visuals displayed “acts that defy humanity.”
Times Square, Union Square and Grand Central Terminal, and Memphis were the major areas where demonstrators rallied around. Protesting against the cops involved in Nichols' tragic death, demonstrators shut down the Memphis-Arkansas bridge. The enraged mobs refused to back away and blocked the bridge from both directions. Meanwhile, dozens of protestors gathered outside one of the police precincts in Chicago in freezing temperatures on Friday night, January 27.
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Who is Candy Nichole?
Nichole, 25, was one of the demonstrators arrested on January 27, after she physically assaulted two NYPD officers while protesting the death of Nichols. However, she was released on her own recognizance following an appearance in Manhattan Criminal court, and prosecutors from District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office raised no objection. Caroline Glickler, an attorney representing Nichole, claimed her client was a victim of “unnecessary police force" during the protests, which also saw a man smash the windshield of an NYPD patrol car with his foot. Glickler said Nichole "maintains her innocence."
The NYPD revealed that Nichole was previously arrested in October 2022 following an alleged “forcible touching” incident in Harlem when she reportedly grabbed her male partner's testicles during an altercation. Furthermore, she was not living at the East 28th Street address she gave to the authorities, building residents confirmed to the New York Post.
Protesters begin to march in Times Square enraged by the death of #TyreNichols #nyc #protest pic.twitter.com/BpWZiT20BD
— Dean_Moses (@Dean_Moses) January 28, 2023
MEAWW previously reported how Nichole and two others, namely Katherine Stone, 34, and Argenis Rivera, 33, were arrested during the demonstrations. A desk appearance ticket was issued against Stone, a resident of Manhattan, for criminal mischief. According to the NYPD, Stone was taken into custody after she vandalized a cop's car and possessed graffiti tools. Meanwhile, Rivera was arrested for criminal mischief and pressed charges of causing damage to a marked police cruiser after he jumped on the vehicle and used his foot to smash the cruiser's windshield, per authorities.
A lawyer representing Rivera asked for house arrest and electronic monitoring if his client was released, and a judge agreed. The perp was held on $10,000 bail after authorities noted his October arrest for allegedly strangling a mother who was pushing her two-year-old toddler in a stroller in Chelsea. Speaking to the Post on condition of anonymity, Rivera's parents said their son had always been "difficult to control" and "always did what he wanted" as a child.
Nichols, 29, died on January 10 in a hospital three days after a violent confrontation with cops of the Memphis Police Department o He succumbed to his injuries from the brutal beatings on January 7 after five Memphis cops -- now identified as Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith -- confronted the victim during a traffic stop.