January 31, 2023
Seven police officers and two EMT’s have been fired for the brutal slaying of Tyre Nichols following a traffic stop in Memphis
The police are meant to protect and serve the civilian populous – but on January 7, 2023, in Memphis, Tennessee – the complete polar opposite took place. Video footage shows the brutal and unnecessary beating of Tyre Nichols, 29, following a traffic stop. Excessive force was used; pepper spray, physical violence including kicks, punches and use of batons used and high-fives and congratulations were exchanged between the officers.
Tyre Nichols died of his injuries three days later in hospital, as a result of the injuries he sustained in the beating.
See Also: Montreal police shot and killed a man suspected in several shootings.
Of the seven officers fired, five have been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. The Memphis Police Department on Friday identified them as Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr., and Justin Smith. The other two, Preston Hemphill and a still yet to be named officer, are currently under investigation.
Hemphill can be heard on body camera footage claiming that he had used a stun-gun on Nichols, before proclaiming “I hope they stomp his ass.”
Also Monday, Memphis Fire Department officials announced the dismissal of emergency medical technicians (EMT’s) Robert Long, JaMicheal Sandridge and Michelle Whitaker. The three EMT’s remained on scene for twenty-seven minutes before transporting Tyre Nichols to hospital, and failed to administer proper medical aid when they arrived on scene, said a statement issued by the Memphis Fire Department.
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.”
If the roles had been reversed, and these officers were dispatched to a murder scene, and found that several others had stood idle while the crime took place; they would would be charged as accomplices. An accomplice is someone who intentionally helps someone else perpetrate a crime. The accomplice does not have to actively participate in the criminal activity but the law treats them equally so that the accomplice can be prosecuted and punished in the same manner as the person as the actual perpetrator. As such, it is very possible that further officers will be fired and charged in the death of Tyre Nichols.
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Officer Demetrius Haley had ties to the victim
Tyre Nichols, an avid skateboarder and photographer, also worked at Fed Ex. One of his co-workers at Fed Ex, is the ex-wife and mother of officer Demetrius Haley’s child. Following the savage beating of Nichols, officer Haley sent a photograph of Nichols to his ex-wife. There are allegations that Nichols was seeing the ex-wife of officer Haley and that the officers involved in this case where actively looking for Nichols and is presumably why Nichols ran when stopped.
