>
A Tennessee sheriff has suspended two deputies and ordered a new investigation into the death of Tire Nichols after personally reviewing the sickening video.
Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. said in a statement: “Having viewed the videotape for the first time tonight, I am concerned about two officers who arrived on the scene following a physical confrontation between police and Tire Nichols. .
“I have launched an internal investigation into the conduct of these deputies to determine what happened and if any policy was violated,” he added. “Both deputies have been relieved of their duties pending the outcome of this administrative investigation.”
Street camera video of the altercation, which began at a traffic stop, shows two officers, who have not been identified, arriving on the scene after five beat and restrained Nichols, 29, at the I usually.
The group of officers could be seen standing around the injured man, first bumping into each other as he lies writhing on the ground before an eighth officer appears and paramedics arrive.
The video shows two more officers arriving at the scene of the brutal beating of Tire Nichols, as the group of police officers stands by ignoring the man who is writhing in pain.
Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. suspended two deputies who responded to the scene after reviewing video that left him ‘saddened and angry’
Nichols died in hospital after he was electrocuted, kicked and punched in the head, struck three times with a metal baton and pepper sprayed twice in the face.
The brutal beating captured on police body camera and street surveillance camera shows the group of officers brutally kicking and punching Nichols as he lies on the ground.
After he is handcuffed and pinned to the ground, three other officers arrive and the group can be seen standing as Nichol is dragged and propped up to sit.
The wounded man, however, cannot sit still and writes and squirms, but the officers do not attend to him, and two are seen fist bumping by the hood of the patrol car.
Another pair is also seen congratulating each other with a fist bump, continuing to ignore Nichols.
Nichols’ family attorney, Antonio Romanucci, said msnbc that the two suspended deputies could face criminal charges like the five who were caught on camera beating the 29-year-old.
“It won’t surprise me at all when more criminal charges are filed against police officers,” Romanucci said. ‘Am I surprised it’s taking so long?
I’ve been on the market long enough, I’ve had to wait six months, a year or two years or nothing for charges to come in, so the fact that at least the admin part is coming through.
‘I think we know what comes next. They are also going to be criminally watched,” she added. “These officers who did not provide assistance and who did not intervene must be administratively and also criminally examined.”
Nichols is seen leaning against the car, bloodied and barely conscious as police ignored him, and at least four officers are seen giving a fist bump.
Bonner condemned the attack that left Nichols dead after he was electrocuted, kicked and punched in the head, struck three times with a metal baton and pepper sprayed twice in the face.
“I am a second generation law enforcement officer and am concerned by what we all saw captured on video,” Bonner said in a statement. This horrible incident tarnished the insignia that I wear and many other good officers wear every day.
“I will do everything in my power to prevent another parent from having to bury their child in such a senseless and tragic way.”
‘My condolences go out to the family and friends of Tire Nichols. I am saddened and angry by the tragic death of her,’ she added.
As the investigation into Nichols’ death continues, her stepfather Rodney Wells and his attorney, famed civil rights attorney Ben Crump, said the video shows other first responders need to be reprimanded.
Tire Nichols’ stepfather, Rodney Wells (above), has sought criminal charges against paramedics who apparently failed to render assistance after he was savagely beaten by police.
Wells called for criminal charges against the paramedics who appeared to be waiting after his stepson was savagely beaten, while Crump, questioned by a white officer who was present at the beginning of Nichols’ traffic stop, has yet to be charged.
“Everybody, the fire department, the paramedics that came out and did nothing, are just as guilty,” Wells said. ABC News after the release of the video.
“Everyone who was active in the entire scene, the entire video, should be charged,” he added.
The five police officers who were fired and charged in Nichols’ death are Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr and Justin Smith.
They are charged with second degree murder, assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.
Memphis Police Director Cerelyn Davis said other officers are under investigation for their role in the arrest.
Davis described the actions of the five officers as “egregious, reckless and inhumane.”
Indicted for second degree murder are (top, left to right) Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, and (bottom, left to right) Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith
Video posted Friday night shows Nichols crying for her mother multiple times during the brutal assault on Jan. 7, which took place just blocks from her home.
‘Breast! Mom,” Nichols yells as several officers pin him to the ground and proceed to beat him.
Video shows police threw at least nine punches at the FedEx worker as he yelled profanity during the nearly four-minute altercation.
Throughout the videos, agents make claims about Nichols that are not supported by the footage, or by what the district attorney or other officials have said about the case.
In one of the videos, an officer claims that during the initial traffic stop, Nichols struggled for his gun before fleeing. The video shows no such incident.
Paramedics arrive on the scene about five minutes after the beating, but do not appear to provide immediate assistance to Nichols, after police say he was drugged.
After Nichols was handcuffed and leaned against a police car, several officers claimed that he must have been high, but officers found no drugs at the scene.
The images have been widely condemned by police departments and unions across the country.
The national president of the Fraternal Order of Police issued a scathing statement in response to video of police officers beating Nichols.
Patrick Yoes said the officers’ physical confrontation with Nichols “does not constitute legitimate police work or a traffic stop gone wrong.”
Instead, Yoes called it a “criminal attack under the guise of the law.”