City of Memphis Two former Memphis Fire Department employees had their emergency medical technician licenses suspended by a Tennessee board on Friday. This was because of their failure to provide Tyre Nichols with life-saving care after he sustained a fatal beating from police.
After Nichols’ passing, the three firefighters were let go. Michelle Whitaker, a former lieutenant in the fire department, was the third person let go, but her license was not suspended on Friday. She reportedly stayed in the engine with the driver during the response to Nichols’ beating on January 7, according to the department. He passed away on January 10th.
The suspensions of advanced EMT JaMichael Sandridge and EMT Robert Long add to measures made by the authorities to hold police and other first responders accountable for the abuse of Nichols, a Black man. Two more Black police officers have been suspended, and five Black officers have been dismissed and charged with second-degree murder and other offenses. The incident that was seen on film has been the subject of a civil rights investigation by the Justice Department.
The two suspensions, according to Matt Gibbs, an attorney for the state Department of Health, “not final disposition of this entire matter.”
According to officials, the U.S. Justice Department has launched a civil rights investigation into Tyre Nichols’ arrest, who passed away days after getting into a dispute with Memphis Department Police Officers during a traffic check.
The FBI field office in Memphis and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division are looking into the use of force by police during Nichols’ arrest on January 7, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.
On January 26, 2023, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation reported the following:
On January 8th, at the request of 30th Judicial District Attorney General Steve Mulroy, TBI agents began investigating the circumstances surrounding the attempted arrest of Tyre Nichols, which occurred the previous evening. The first encounter occurred at approximately 8:22 p.m. during a traffic stop at the intersections of Raines and Ross Roads, in which evidence shows Nichols ran from officers during a physical altercation. A second encounter occurred a short time later around Castlegate Lane and Bear Creek Cove, which also included a physical encounter, after which Nichols, 29, was hospitalized in Memphis with critical injuries. On January 10th, doctors pronounced him deceased.
– Memphis Fire Department (@MEM_Fire) January 30, 2023
During the investigation, agents gathered evidence identifying Tadarrius Bean (DOB: 9/18/98), Demetrius Haley (DOB: 1/4/93), Emmitt Martin III (DOB: 6/11/92), Desmond Mills, Jr. (DOB: 3/13/90), and Justin Smith (DOB: 10/16/94) as the men who caused Nichols’ injuries.
WATCH🚨: The pole camera footage of the beating arrest of #TyreNichols has been synced with the audio from the body camera footage. Five Memphis Police officers, all black, have been fired & charged with second-degree murder. pic.twitter.com/H9GMC9XcFz
– Officer Lew (@officer_Lew) January 28, 2023
Today, a Shelby County Grand Jury returned indictments, charging all five men with seven counts each: Second Degree Murder, Aggravated Assault, Aggravated Kidnapping with Bodily Injury, Aggravated Kidnapping in Possession of a Deadly Weapon, Official Misconduct, Official Misconduct — Refrain, and Official Oppression. All five surrendered to TBI agents on Thursday morning, after which authorities booked them into the Shelby County Jail. Bond is set at $350,000 for Haley and Martin, and $250,000 for Bean, Mills, and Smith.
(CWEB news update): According to department spokesman Kimberly Elder, the department announced on Monday that Preston Hemphill had been “relieved of duty.” The department also suspended a seventh officer, who was not named. On January 8, according to authorities, all seven officers received initial suspension.
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Tyre Nichols Death Update: Mystery Prevails around Why was Nichols Stopped by Memphis Police
