Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old black man who was stopped for a traffic violation on January 7 and later beaten to death, was the subject of the traffic stop, and the Memphis Police Department announced on Monday that seven of its officers had been dismissed from their duties.
Driving the news: The department said in a statement that the officers, including the five who were each charged last week with second-degree murder and other offenses, were dismissed from duty on Jan. 8, the day after Nichols was battered by cops and hospitalized.
According to the Memphis Police Department, Preston Hemphill, a white man, was dismissed as a result of his participation in the original traffic stop, during which he discharged a taser gun.
Hemphill's involvements and activities, according to the department, are still being looked at even though no charges have been brought against him.
Seven cops have been let go in all, although the department has only named six. On Monday, it simply used the term "other officer" to describe the seventh officer.
Background: Former officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith, all of whom are black males, have been charged with aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct, and official oppression.
According to department spokesperson Christopher Williams, Hemphill was hired in 2018. What they're saying: According to the department's statement, "There are several charges that are impending and still developing."
The statement adds, "We anticipate the ensuing round of personnel measures in the days ahead." The big picture: The FBI's Memphis Field Office and the Department of Justice are looking into possible police civil rights violations involving Nichols.
Nichols' family's attorneys stated last week that early results from an independent autopsy proved he "suffered substantial bleeding caused by a violent beating," even though the Shelby County medical examiner's office has not yet disclosed an official cause of death.
In response to the murder accusations leveled against five of its members, the Memphis Police Department declared it had permanently disbanded the special unit Scorpion after the publication of the video evidence.
Before the films' release on Friday, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis denounced the officers' actions, calling their conduct "unconscionable."
To focus: In a statement released on Monday, the Memphis Fire Department announced that two of its EMTs and a lieutenant had been discharged as a result of an internal inquiry. Robert Long, JaMicheal Sandridge, and Michelle Whitaker, the lieutenant, were all found to have "violated many" departmental rules and procedures.
When the EMTs saw Nichols handcuffed and leaning against a police cruiser, they "failed to conduct a proper patient evaluation," the statement added.
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