A sixth Memphis police officer, identified as Preston Hemphill, was suspended from duty Monday in connection with the death of 29-year-old Tire Nichols after a traffic stop on January 7. A video released on Friday showed the terrible beating he received (kicking, punching, baton goals). Nichols had to be taken to a hospital, where he died three days later.
Five other agents (Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith) have already been expelled from the force and charged last week for a string of crimes, including murder and kidnapping.
After the broadcast of the recording of what happened that night, in which it was also certified that the ambulance did not arrive until 22 minutes later, it was confirmed that, at some point, there were more agents on the scene than the defendants, the five African-Americans, as the victim.
There were those who pointed out that the uniformed man who chased Nichols with the taser pistol was not on the list of the alleged perpetrators of the tragedy. The Tennessee City Police Department confirmed that the sixth on the list was Hempbill, but did not indicate if this officer is the one who wielded that weapon.
“Agent Hemphill has been relieved of duty. This is an ongoing investigation. Once additional information is available we will make it known on our social platforms,” a spokesperson said. Hemphill joined the force in 2018. The other five joined the department between 2017 and 2020.
In addition to these six, there are also two members of the fire department who are on suspension of employment and salary. In his case, they would be related to the health care, or rather, neglect, that Nichols received.
The display of the video has sparked a weekend of mobilizations in Memphis and many other cities in the United States. The numerous requests and pleas for calm, including those from the Nichols family and that of President Joe Biden, have managed to characterize the protests as peaceful, with no serious incidents being reported to date.
These images have also intensified the requests for a police reform to be carried out. All this climate of vindication has quickly translated into action in Memphis. The police chief, Cerelyn Davis, announced on Saturday the immediate dismantling of a special group, called Scorpion, to which some 40 agents were registered, including the five accused.
That unit was founded to combat the high crime rate in certain areas of the city. It was something like putting out a fire with gasoline. There were allegations that they actually used brutal and unwarranted force. The existence of that special group allowed its excesses to go unpunished, according to critics.
