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The only white officer involved in the gruesome beating and death of Tire Nichols was “shielded and protected” by the Memphis Police Department, attorneys for the family said.
Preston Hemphill was suspended from pay pending a hearing, but was spared criminal charges brought against his five police colleagues.
Hemphill, 26, who joined the force in 2018, used the body camera that captured the first of four videos released by authorities Friday of the traffic stop and the violent confrontation that followed.
In the video, Hemphill is seen “violently pulling Nichols out of his car while slamming him to the ground with a taser, then saying, ‘I hope he gets his ass stepped on’ after Nichols got away,” attorneys for Nichols said. the family.
Preston Hemphill has been suspended from pay pending a hearing, but has been cleared of criminal charges.
Hemphill then radioed to a dispatcher, “Taser was deployed,” then told another officer later, “One of the prongs hit the b****d.”
The officer was not present at the second scene where Nichols was severely beaten, kicked, and punched as he lay helpless on the ground.
Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, the attorneys defending the Nichols family, criticized police for appearing to give special treatment to Hemphill, the only white officer involved.
They said in a joint statement yesterday: ‘Today’s news from Memphis officials that Officer Preston Hemphill was reportedly relieved of his duty weeks ago but has yet to be fired or charged is extremely disappointing.
‘Why did his identity and the role he played in Tire’s death just come out?
“We have asked from the beginning that the Memphis Police Department be transparent with the family and the community; this news seems to indicate that they have not risen to the occasion.
Tire Nichols, 29, was severely beaten like a “human piñata” by five Memphis, Tennessee police officers, all African-American, on January 7 and died three days later in hospital from kidney failure and cardiac arrest.
Five officers were fired on January 20, and on January 26 they were arrested and charged with Nichols’ murder, as well as kidnapping, assault, and misconduct.
Ben Crump, pictured with Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, has called for Hemphill to be charged.
Protesters march over the death of Tire Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police.
“Certainly the question arises as to why the white officer involved in this brutal attack was shielded and shielded from public view and, to date, given sufficient discipline and accountability.”
A seventh officer who was not immediately identified was also released without pay, the police department said.
Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said an unspecified number of officers, in addition to the five initially implicated, remained under investigation for policy violations stemming from Nichols’ arrest.
The five officers fired on Jan. 20 – Justin Smith, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III, Demetrius Haley and Tadarrius Bean – were charged Thursday with second-degree murder, assault, kidnapping, official misconduct and oppression of law enforcement. fatal beating of Nichols.
Lee Gerald, Hemphill’s attorney, said: “Per departmental regulations, Officer Hemphill activated his body camera.
Shocking body cam footage shows suspect being severely beaten by a team of violent police officers
Body camera and surveillance footage of his Jan. 7 interaction with five Memphis police officers were released Friday night.
He was never present in the second scene. She is cooperating with officials in this investigation.
Three members of the Memphis Fire Department who responded to the fatal confrontation with police were also fired Monday after investigators found they beat him and left him handcuffed on the ground without medical attention for nearly 15 minutes.
According to a fire department statement, EMTs Robert Long and JaMichael Sandridge did not assess Nichols’ condition when they arrived, while Fire Lt. Michelle Whitaker, who took them to the scene, remained in her vehicle.
An internal review of their conduct found that the three fire department employees “violated numerous (fire department) policies and protocols,” the agency said in a statement released by Fire Chief Gina Sweat.
According to a fire department schedule of their response to an incident that was originally dismissed as “a person being pepper sprayed,” Long and Sandridge “failed to conduct an adequate assessment of the patient” when they arrived at Nichols at 8:41 p.m., minutes after the beating.
JaMichael Sandridge (left) and Robert Long, both fire department EMTs, were fired Monday after failing to treat the dying Tire Nichols.
Lt. Michelle Williams was also fired Monday night: she remained in the fire truck when they arrived on scene.
Instead, after an initial “interaction” with Nichols, the two EMTs called an ambulance crew, which arrived at the scene at 8:55 p.m. and “initiated patient care,” the fire department said. in his statement. Nichols was transported to a hospital a short time later.
The “actions or inactions” of Long, Sandridge and Whitaker “at the scene that night did not meet the expectations of the Memphis Fire Department,” Sweat said.
In addition to the seven police officers and three members of the fire department involved in the encounter with Nichols, two Shelby County sheriff’s deputies have also been relieved of their duties pending an internal review, Sheriff Floyd Bonner said last Friday, after that the video was posted.
The Shelby County District Attorney’s investigation is examining the roles played by all individuals involved in the Nichols traffic stop and its immediate aftermath, including Hemphill Memphis Fire Department personnel and ‘those responsible for documenting the incident. ‘ the office said in a statement.
The Scorpion specialized police unit that included the five Memphis officers charged with murder in the case was disbanded by the city on Saturday.
It was not immediately clear if the sixth and seventh officers under investigation were from that unit.
Davis has said that investigators have not proven that Nichols was driving recklessly when he was pulled over, as claimed by some of the officers involved at the time.