A sixth Memphis police officer has been relieved of duty following the traffic stoppage that led to the death of Tire Nichols earlier this month, the department said Monday.
Body camera video released Friday shows the officer, identified by police and his lawyer as Preston Hemphill, firing a stun gun at Nichols as he initially ran from officers during the Jan. 7 stop.
“I can confirm that I represent Memphis Police Officer Preston Hemphill, who was the third officer at Mr. Nichols’ first stop. Video One is his bodycam footage,” the attorney, Lee Gerald, said in a statement.
However, according to the lawyer, Hemphill was not at the place where Nichols was beaten.
“He was never present for the second scene. He is cooperating with officials in this investigation,” Gerald said.
More coverage of Tire Nichols’ death
Five other officers – Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith — were fired on January 20 after an administrative investigation found they had violated the department’s policy on the use of force. They were hired between 2017 and 2020.
The former officers were charged with manslaughter, 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.
When asked why the department did not announce any disciplinary action against Hemphill on the same day it announced the dismissal of the five officers, a police spokesman said: “The names of the other 5 officers were announced when they were charged on a departmental basis, and subsequently charged with criminal charges. Officer Hemphill has not received any departmental or criminal charges. As we advised, the investigation is ongoing. Officer Hemphill’s name came out after being heard in the video of the Tire Nichols scene, which was released Friday evening. We confirm only that he is relieved to be out of commission.”
That answer was not enough for Nichols’ family lawyer Ben Crump.
“The news today from Memphis officials that Officer Preston Hemphill was reportedly released weeks ago but has not yet been fired or charged is extremely disappointing. Why is his identity and the role he played in Tire’s death only now coming to light?” he asked.
Crump added: “We have asked the Memphis Police Department to be transparent with the family and community from the start — this news seems to indicate they have not jumped at the opportunity. It certainly raises the question of why the white officer involved in this brutal attack was shielded and protected from the public eye, and given adequate discipline and accountability to this day. The Memphis Police Department owes us all the answers.
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said Monday that authorities have worked “extremely quickly but thoroughly to charge those whose transgressions were clear and obvious and directly contributed to Mr. Nichols’ death,” but the investigation is far from over.
“Current costs do not prevent us from adding additional costs as more information is presented. We look at all the individuals involved in the events leading up to, during and after the defeat of Tire Nichols. This includes the officer who was present at the initial meeting and has not yet been charged, Memphis Fire Department personnel and individuals who participated in preparing documentation of the incident afterward,” Mulroy’s office said in a statement. .
‘Firing someone is not firing’
At least one city official said the discipline against Hemphill doesn’t go far enough.
“For the record, firing someone is not firing them,” Memphis City Council Vice President JB Smiley Jr. said. tweetedand ended the post with “#FirePrestonHemphill” and “#JusticeForTyre.”
A representative of the union representing rank and file officers, the Memphis Police Association, could not be reached for comment.
Nichols, a 29-year-old black man who was an amateur photographer and skateboarder, was hospitalized in critical condition and died three days after the traffic stop.
Multiple police videos show officers beating, kicking and beating Nichols with a baton.
There were three videos from police cameras and one from a police surveillance camera mounted on a pole. Body camera video shows Nichols escaping while lying on the ground. At least one officer appeared to have been hit with a chemical irritant when it was sprayed on Nichols during the first encounter.
Nichols managed to run to his mother’s area and was about 80 yards from her home when video captured several officers attacking him while shouting repeatedly “Mom!”
“I’ll a–“
The body camera video referenced by Hemphill’s attorney shows an officer arriving at the traffic stop pointing a gun. Another screams, “You get your a– blown the f— out.”
One of the officers pulls Nichols out of the car, video shows.
According to the footage, several officers hover around him as he lies on the ground. In a chaotic scene, they sometimes yell conflicting orders at him.
“I’ll call you a–” yells a cop.
Officers yell at Nichols to lie down on the floor and put his hands behind his back. He lies on his side on the floor, with one officer holding his arm and a second holding the other, the video shows.
Nichols says “OK, dude, dang!” at one point, and “you guys are really doing a lot right now. … I’m just trying to go home.
He tells officers yelling at him, “I’m on the ground!” and then it turns out he was sprayed with a chemical irritant, the video shows.
Nichols manages to free himself from the agents during a fight on the ground, as the images show. An officer then shoots a stun gun at him as he sprints away.
That cop chased him for a short distance before stopping, the video shows.
“Taser has been deployed,” says the officer, breathing heavily. He then gives a description of Nichols and says the direction and street where he was last seen.
“One of the teeth hit the b——,” the officer also says, referring to the stun gun he fired, according to the video.
Traffic stop fallout affects other agencies
The fallout from Nichols’ traffic stop and fatal beating has spread to other agencies outside of the Memphis Police Department.
Two Shelby County Sheriff’s Office deputies were relieved of their duties pending an administrative inquiry related to Nichols’ death, Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. announced Friday night after watching the video for the first time.
Bonner said he was “concerned about two deputies who showed up at the scene after the physical confrontation between police and Tire Nichols.”
The investigation will examine their behavior to determine what happened and whether any policy violations were committed, the sheriff said.
Last week, two Memphis firefighters were also “relieved of duty” as that department conducts an internal investigation into Nichols’ death.
Fire spokesperson Qwanesha Ward said the employees were “involved in initial patient care” from Nichols; she gave no further details.
“This is an ongoing investigation and we are unable to comment further at this time,” Ward said in a Jan. 24 statement.