. JUST IN: Sixth Memphis PD Officer Relieved of Duty in Connection With Tyre Nichols’ Death - News Times

JUST IN: Sixth Memphis PD Officer Relieved of Duty in Connection With Tyre Nichols’ Death

By News Here - 11:08

Nick Valencia reporting on latest developments in MPD investigation regarding arrest and death of Tyre Nichols.

Screenshot via CNN.

A sixth officer with the Memphis Police Department has been “relieved of duty” in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols.

Nichols was pulled over by officers with the Memphis Police Department on Jan. 7. Video from the police body cams and surveillance cameras showed Nichols being brutally beaten, tased, pepper-sprayed, struck by batons, punched, and kicked by the officers. Nichols died from his injuries on Jan. 10. The officers were fired shortly thereafter.

On Thursday, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy announced charges against five MPD officers for Nichols’ death. Emmit Martin III, Justin Smith, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Desmond Mills were each charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping involving the possession of a weapon, aggravated kidnapping resulting in bodily injury, official misconduct through unauthorized exercise of power, official misconduct through failure to act when there is a duty imposed by a law, and official oppression. Each of the five former MPD officers was arrested and taken into custody before the charges were publicly announced.

In a Sunday interview with CNN Newsroom anchor Pamela Brown, Mulroy would not rule out charges against additional police officers or first responders, and the MPD, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, and Memphis Fire Department had all told media that their agencies were continuing to investigate the incident and whether any of their employees had any culpability for failure to intervene to stop the beating or failure to render aid to treat Nichols’ injuries.

On Monday, CNN reported that a sixth Memphis PD officer, Officer Preston Hemphill, had been relieved of duty related to his role in Nichols’ arrest.

“He was relieved of duty with the other officers,” said MPD Major Karen Rudolph. “Remember, we said this investigation is ongoing. More information will be shared as it develops.”

CNN correspondent Nick Valencia reported that Hemphill had been with MPD since 2018. It is not yet known which officer Hemphill is in the video footage from Nichols’ arrest or if he was a member of the SCORPION Unit, the anti-street crime unit to which the other five officers belonged before they were fired and charged in Nichols’ death.

UPDATE 1:15 pm ET: CNN just reported additional information on this story, with Valencia reporting that he had spoken with an attorney representing Hemphill, who said that his client’s body cam footage had been seen in the first video clip released by the MPD. The attorney also told CNN that his client was not present at the second scene, where the more severe beatings took place.

Valencia also had a photo of Hemphill and had confirmed that he was a part of MPD’s crisis intervention team, but it was still not known what specific actions or actions by Hemphill were alleged to be the reason he was put on administrative leave.

Watch the video above, via CNN.

The post JUST IN: Sixth Memphis PD Officer Relieved of Duty in Connection With Tyre Nichols’ Death first appeared on Mediaite.

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