The brutal beating of Tyrus Nichols continued Monday, and the Memphis Police Department said the seventh police officer who responded has been fired.
In a statement, the agency did not identify the seventh officer or say whether the person faces departmental or criminal charges.
The department confirmed that a sixth officer, Preston Hemphill, has been fired.
“The actions and actions of Officer Preston Hemphill and other officers continue to be part of the investigation since its inception” on Jan. 8, the day after Nichols’ traffic stop and the day all seven officers were fired, the department said.
In a statement, it added that “multiple” cases are emerging. It is unclear which officers may be charged.
“We expect the next level of staff action in the coming days,” the department said in a statement.
Hemphill’s attorney, Lee Gerald, confirmed Monday that body camera video released last week showed Hemphill firing a gun at Nichols as he ran from officers during the initial stop.
Gerald said the officer, who has been charged with second-degree murder and other crimes, was never present at the scene of Nicole’s beating.
“Hemphill’s actions and involvement in the initial traffic stop and TASER are under investigation,” the department said in a statement Monday.
More coverage of the death of Goma Nichols
Five other officers — Tadarius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith — were fired on Jan. 20 after an administrative investigation found they violated the department’s use-of-force policy. Employed from 2017 to 2020.
Those five former officers were charged with second-degree murder, two counts of official misconduct, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, one count of official oppression and one count of aggravated assault, prosecutors announced last week.
Asked why he did not announce disciplinary action against Hemphill on the same day police announced the firing of five other officers, a police spokesman said: “The other five officers were named in the department’s indictment and subsequently charged with a crime.” Hemphill has not been charged departmentally or criminally. As we advise, the investigation is ongoing. Officer Hemphill’s name was released after the video was released Friday evening after Tyros Nicholas’s appearance. He was exonerated.
That answer wasn’t enough for Nichols family attorney Ben Crump.
“Officer Preston Hemphill was reportedly fired weeks ago, but the news from Memphis officials that he has not yet been terminated or charged is extremely disappointing. Why is his identity and the role he played in the death of Tire become clear now? he asked.
Crump added: “We’ve asked the Memphis Police Department to be clear with the family and the community from the beginning – this news seems to indicate that they are not up to the task.” Why the white officer involved in this brutal attack was shielded and protected from the public eye and to this day raises the question of adequate discipline and accountability. We all owe the Memphis Police Department an answer.
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy’s office said Monday that authorities “worked unusually quickly to prosecute those whose guilt was clear and obvious and who directly contributed to the death of Mr. Nichols,” but said the investigation was far from over.
“The current indictment does not prevent us from filing additional charges as more information becomes available. We are looking at all individuals involved before, during and after the tire struck Nichols. This includes the officer who was involved in the – as yet – unindicted first contact, employees of the Memphis Fire Department, and people involved in documenting the crash. ” Mulroy’s office said in a statement.
“Relegation of duty is not dismissal.”
At least one city official said the discipline against Hemphill won’t go far.
“According to the information, demoting someone on duty is not firing them,” said City Council Vice Chairman JB Smiley Jr. He tweeted.He ends the post with “#FirePrestonHemphill” and “#JusticeForTyre”.
A union representative representing the Memphis Police Association could not be reached for comment.
Nichols, 29, a black man who was an amateur photographer and skateboarder; He was hospitalized in critical condition and died three days after the traffic stop.
Several police videos show officers punching, kicking and kicking him.
Three videos were taken from police body cameras and one from a police surveillance camera mounted on a pole. Body camera video shows Nichols running away while on the ground. In the first encounter, at least one officer appears to have been hit by the chemical irritant when it was sprayed on Nicholas.
Nichols was able to run to his mother’s neighborhood and was about 80 yards from her home when the video shows him yelling “Mom!” repeatedly as several officers attack him.
I taste your–
The body camera video he cited shows an officer approaching the traffic stop and pointing a gun, Hempfield’s attorney said. Another said, “A—————— —————————————- ——————— You will find us.
One of the police officers pulled Nicole out of the car, the video shows.
As soon as he was on the ground, several officers hovered around him, according to the video. Sometimes they shout conflicting commands in a chaotic manner.
“I’m going to put your a–,” shouted an officer.
The officers yelled for Nichols to lie on the ground and put his hands behind his back. He is on his side on the ground, with one officer holding his arm and the other holding the other, the video shows.
Nichols said, “Okay, man, dang!” He says. At one point, he said, “You guys are doing a lot right now. … I’m trying to get home.”
“I’m on the ground!” The officers will tell them that they are shouting. And then it seems that he was sprayed with a chemical irritant, the video shows.
Nichols was able to break away from the officers during a struggle on the ground, according to the video. Then, as he ran, an officer fired a pistol shot at him.
That officer chased him for a short distance before stopping, the video shows.
“Taser deployed,” the officer says, breathing heavily. He then gives Nicole’s description and tells his direction and the way he was seen running.
“One of the forehead hit him in the ——,” the officer says in the video, referring to the gun that was fired.
Falling out of a traffic stop hits other agencies.
Nichols’ traffic stop and fatal beating spread beyond the Memphis Police Department to other agencies.
Three fire department employees were fired Monday after being accused of violating “multiple” department policies and protocols, the agency said in a statement.
The department did not provide a list of charges. Two of the workers — both EMTs — “failed to conduct an adequate patient assessment of Mr. Nichols,” he said.
A third employee, a lieutenant, remained in her vehicle, the department said.
Two Shelby County sheriff’s deputies have been placed on leave pending an administrative investigation into Nichols’ death, Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. said. announced Friday night after watching the video for the first time.
“He was concerned about the two deputies who showed up on the scene following the physical altercation between police and Tyr Nichols,” Bonner said.
The investigation will look at their conduct to determine what happened and whether any policies were violated, Bonner said.