MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A former Memphis Police commander said he was shocked at Wednesday’s verdict of not guilty on all counts for three ex-officers accused of beating Tyre Nichols to death.

Thaddeus Johnson, a senior fellow at the Council on Criminal Justice, also disagreed with some of the witnesses who testified that the officers’ use of force was justified.

“I saw the verdict and I was taken aback,” Johnson said. “I by no means expected for them to be found guilty of second-degree murder, but perhaps facilitation, perhaps official misconduct. I was expecting for them to get some charges, and if not some lesser charges versus second degree.”

Although the verdict was surprising, Johnson says the defense team successfully made arguments that left jurors with room for reasonable doubt.

The former officers’ use of force during their interaction with Nichols was brought up at trial, and several of the experts who took the stand justified the former officers’ actions that night.

Johnson disagrees.

“I don’t know what training that was,” he said. “It’s not the training that I received at the Academy. It’s not how I trained other officers, and I trained officers in defensive tactics. I trained the officers in use of force and firearms and deadly force.”

Despite the disappointment over the verdict, Johnson says it’s important for the community and city leaders to repair their relationship.

Thursday, the community hosted a rally in Nichols’ honor at the National Civil Rights Museum.

For the city to move forward, Johnson says it’s also important for the Memphis Police Department to be transparent and for the community to demand better policing, but he says those changes can only happen with healing and unity.

“We have to get into the communities, we have to do more than just talk. We have to roll our sleeves up and walk these streets with them and have their lived experiences,” he said.