Memphis disciplines 2 more officers, fires 3 EMTs

Seven officers implicated

Memphis police lock a gate at a precinct as a group of demonstrators approach to protest the death of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers, in Memphis, Tenn., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Memphis police lock a gate at a precinct as a group of demonstrators approach to protest the death of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers, in Memphis, Tenn., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)


MEMPHIS --The Memphis Police Department has disciplined two more officers involved in the arrest, beating and death of Tyre Nichols, the department said Monday, widening the circle of punishment for a killing that has already led to the murder indictment of five officers and angered the nation with another display of police brutality.

Officer Preston Hemphill, who is white, was relieved of duty shortly after Nichols' Jan. 7 arrest, the department said. Five Black officers were fired and charged last week with second-degree murder and other offenses in Nichols' beating and Jan. 10 death.

Late Monday, the Police Department said another officer had been relieved of duty. Officials did not give a name or specify what role the officer played in the arrest. In total, seven Memphis officers have been disciplined.

Also Monday, Memphis Fire Department officials announced the firing of emergency medical technicians Robert Long and JaMicheal Sandridge and fire Lt. Michelle Whitaker in connection with Nichols' death.

Fire Chief Gina Sweat said in a statement that the department received a call from police to respond to a report of a person who had been pepper-sprayed. The workers arrived at 8:41 p.m. as Nichols was handcuffed on the ground and leaning up against a squad car, the statement said.

Long and Sandridge, based on the nature of the call and information they were told by police, "failed to conduct an adequate patient assessment of Mr. Nichols," the statement said. Whitaker and the driver remained in the engine.

An ambulance was called, and it arrived at 8:55 p.m., the statement said. An emergency unit cared for Nichols and left for a hospital with him at 9:08 p.m. -- 27 minutes after Long, Sandridge and Whitaker arrived, officials said.

An investigation determined that all three violated "multiple" policies and protocols, the statement said.

The killing of Nichols, who was Black, has led to days of public discussion of how police forces can treat Black citizens with excessive violence, regardless of the race of both the police officers and those being policed.

On body camera footage from the initial stop, Hemphill is heard saying that he stunned Nichols and declaring, "I hope they stomp his ass."

Nichols' death was the latest example in a long string of early police accounts regarding use of force that were later shown to have minimized or ignored violent and sometimes deadly encounters.

Memphis Police Department officers used a stun gun, a baton and their fists as they pummeled Nichols during the nighttime arrest. Video shows Nichols running away from officers toward his house after he was pulled over on suspicion of reckless driving. Nichols, a 29-year-old father, was heard calling for his mother and seen struggling with his injuries as he sat helpless on the pavement, video footage released Friday showed.

The five officers chatted and milled about for several minutes as Nichols remained on the ground, but there were other authorities on the scene. Two Shelby County sheriff's deputies have been relieved of duty without pay while their conduct is investigated.

In the Nichols case, the Police Department has been responsible for internal disciplinary measures, such as firings, while the Shelby County district attorney has handled the criminal charges.

Hemphill was the third officer at a traffic stop that preceded the violent arrest but was not at the scene where Nichols was beaten, his lawyer Lee Gerald said. Hemphill turned on his body camera, in line with department policy, he added.

Lawyers for the Nichols family questioned Monday why the department did not disclose Hemphill's discipline earlier and why he has not been fired or charged.

"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 haven't risen to the occasion," attorneys Ben Crump and Anthony Romanucci said in a statement. "It certainly begs the question why the white officer involved in this brutal attack was shielded and protected from the public eye, and to date, from sufficient discipline and accountability."

Memphis police spokeswoman Karen Rudolph said information on disciplinary action taken against Hemphill was not immediately released because Hemphill was not fired. The department generally gives out information about an officer's punishment only after a department investigation into misconduct ends, Rudolph said.

Memphis Police Director Cerelyn "CJ" Davis told The Associated Press in an interview Friday that a "lack of supervision in this incident was a major problem."

"When officers are working, you should have at least one supervisor for every group or squad of people," Davis said. "Not just somebody who's at the office doing the paperwork, somebody who's actually embedded in that unit."

Calls for more officers to be fired or charged have been loud and persistent from the Nichols family, their lawyers and community activists who have peacefully protested in Memphis since the video was released. The video was evocative of the arrest of George Floyd in 2020 and officers' failure to intervene.

On Saturday, Nichols' stepfather, Rodney Wells, told The Associated Press that the family was going to "continue to seek justice and get some more officers arrested."

"Questions were raised before the video was released, I raised those questions," Wells said. "I just felt there was more than five officers out there. Now, five were charged with murder because they were the main participants, but there were five or six other officers out there that didn't do anything to render any aid. So they are just as culpable as the officers who threw the blows."

Memphis City Council member Martavius Jones said Monday that police policies on rendering aid and de-escalation appeared to have been violated.

"When everybody saw the video, we see that you have multiple officers just standing around, when Mr. Nichols is in distress, that just paints a totally different picture," Jones said.

Jones said he believes more officers should be disciplined.

"At this point, what's going to be helpful for this community is to see how swiftly the police chief deals with those other officers now that everybody has seen the tape and knows that it wasn't only five officers who were at the scene the entire time," Jones said.

The five fired officers and Hemphill were part of the so-called Scorpion unit, which targeted violent criminals in high-crime areas. Davis, the police chief, said Saturday that the unit has been disbanded.

Nichols' funeral service is scheduled for Wednesday at a Memphis church.

TWO POLICE-INVOLVED SHOOTINGS

An investigation was underway in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday after authorities say a police officer fatally shot a 47-year-old Black man who had pointed a gun at him.

The fatal shooting occurred Sunday evening in North Nashville, when police responded to 911 calls from witnesses who said there was a man in the street with a gun. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a statement the man was shot after refusing to obey a police officer's command to drop the weapon. The man was taken to a hospital, where he died. No officers were injured.

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department released audio recordings of two calls to 911, including one made by a person who said the man was walking the street armed and that "he needs to stop ... before he gets something that he don't need, because he's pointing his gun, like seriously," the caller said.

According to body camera and police vehicle video released by the Police Department, Officer Dylan Ramos arrived first at the scene and can be seen approaching a man. The officer says "sir, sir" repeatedly. The man walks away, and moments later, the officer shouts: "Do not touch that! Drop the gun! Drop the gun!" Shots can then be heard. The first caller, who was still on the line with 911, can be heard shouting: "Don't shoot him!"

The entire interaction lasts about 20 seconds.

The officers rendered aid to the man, who was taken to a hospital, where he died, police said. Police were trying to notify next of kin, and his name hasn't been released. Ramos, a three-year veteran of the department, was placed on routine administrative assignment while authorities investigate the shooting.

"TBI agents are working to independently determine the series of events leading to the shooting, including collecting evidence and conducting interviews," the agency's statement said. "The TBI acts solely as fact-finders in its cases and does not determine whether the actions of an officer were justified in these types of matters.

Meanwhile, the agency said it was also investigating a separate shooting in West Tennessee on Sunday involving the Dyer County Sheriff's Office. Deputies were trying to serve a warrant on a man who refused to leave his truck, the bureau said in a statement. After more than an hour of negotiation, "the encounter escalated and the deputy and individual exchanged gunfire, resulting in the man being struck," the TBI said. Terry L. Noel, 50, of Dyersburg was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

Information for this article was contributed by Adrian Sanz and staff writers of The Associated Press.

  photo  A group of demonstrators protest outside a police precinct in response to the death of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers, in Memphis, Tenn., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
 
 
  photo  A group of demonstrators knock on a locked entrance as they protest outside a police precinct in response to the death of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers, in Memphis, Tenn., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
 
 
  photo  A protestor yells through a locked entrance outside a police precinct in response to the death of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers, in Memphis, Tenn., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
 
 


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