A sixth officer, who is white, has been relieved of duty as the investigation continues to find out what happened during the deadly traffic stop that took the life of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols. Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy has not ruled out filing additional charges, and the killer cops’ “elite” police unit, the SCORPION unit, has been disbanded. The disturbing details inside…
Peaceful protests continue nationwide after Friday’s release of police footage, showing officers savagely beating Tyre Nichols at a traffic stop in Memphis. So far, five Black Memphis police officers have been arrested and charged with second degree murder and kidnapping.
Officer Preston Hemphill, a sixth Memphis police officer involved in Tyre Nichols’ arrest, has been relieved of duty, according to Memphis police Maj. Karen Rudolph. He is white.
“He was relieved of duty with the other officers,” Rudolph said Monday. “Remember, we said this investigation is ongoing. More information will be shared as it develops.”
During the altercation, Officer Hemphill used his taser on Tyre. Preston Hemphill is seen chasing Tyre down the road in his own body camera video, but then returns to the scene of the initial traffic stop. He was heard on his body camera video saying twice, “I hope they stomp his a**.”
Five Black officers, including Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith, were each charged with second-degree murder, assault, kidnapping, official misconduct, and official oppression in connection with Tyre’s beating during a traffic stop on Jan. 7th. You can watch the brutal beating here.
Three days after the beating, Tyre died from his injuries.
Preston Hemphill, who is white, has not been fired or charged. We wonder why.
Tyre’s parents appeared on “The View” today, and Tyre’s father expressed surprise that the white officer who tasered Tyre has not been charged.
”I think all of them should pay,” said Rodney Wells, Tyre’s stepfather. “Along with the white officer that was tasing my son. I don’t understand to this day how his name hasn’t been released or how come he hasn’t been charged with anything.”
RowVaughn Wells, Tyre’s mother, said her son had the heart of a modern-day Messiah and felt he had to be sacrificed for the greater good. That’s the only way she can make sense of it all.
”The only thing that keeps me going is I feel like my son was here on an assignment. And he finished his assignment and God took him home,” she said.
Watch the clips below:
According to Tyre’s family, he was beaten for at least 3-minutes.
The footage of the fatal encounter is upsetting to watch. However, those who, for whatever reason don’t believe this happens, should definitely watch.
It begins with a traffic stop and progresses to officers repeatedly beating Tyre with batons, punching and kicking him while his hands are restrained behind his back at one point. In the disturbing footage, Tyre can be heard pleading for his mother while being kicked and pepper-sprayed.
A stretcher arrived at the scene after another 23 minutes. Tyre was admitted to the hospital and died three days later.
According to a report by CNN, the actions of at least two Memphis Fire Department employees and two Shelby County Sheriff’s deputies are being investigated.
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy told CNN’s Pamela Brown that additional charges haven’t been ruled out as the investigation is still ongoing.
Mulroy said that he “can’t comment on an ongoing investigation or an ongoing prosecution,” but “will point out that the charges that we brought against the five officers who were principally involved in the beating death of Tyre Nichols, who were present at that scene, we charged them extraordinarily quickly, less than three weeks from the incident itself to the time we brought indictments. And that’s really unprecedented.”
“So, we’re going to need time to allow the investigation to go forward in further consideration of charges,” he continued, “but I will say this, nothing we did last Thursday regarding the indictments precludes us from bringing other charges later.”
He continued:
“We knew that the longer the video was delayed, the more unrest and suspicion about the process would be. So, the video needed to be released soon. But at the same time, we also knew that releasing the video without an announcement of charges, could itself be provocative and incendiary. So, the best solution was to expedite the investigation and to expedite the consideration of charges so that the charges could come first, and then the release of the video.”
The officers involved in the beating death of Tyre Nichols were apart of an “elite” police team called the SCORPION Unit. It stood for “Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods.” That unit has now been permanently deactivated by the Memphis Police Department.
The SCORPION Unit was introduced in October 2021 as the homicide rate in the Tennessee city spiked. The unit, which consisted of four groups of ten officers, would saturate “hot spots” in unmarked cars and conduct traffic stops as part of homicide, assault, and other crime investigations.
Calls for police reform keeps growing.
“The brutal beating of Tyre Nichols was murder and is a grim reminder that we still have a long way to go in solving systemic police violence in America,” Congressional Black Caucus chair Rep. Steven Horsford said Sunday in a statement.
Memphis Police Chief Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis is a Black woman and that likely contributed to the swift action in firing and charging the officers who allegedly killed Tyre. She has skillfully struck a balance in her response, harshly criticizing the involved officers while also strongly supporting the rest of her department. She said: “This is not a reflection of the good work that many Memphis police officers do on a daily basis.
The five police officers charged in Tyre Nichols’ death will be arraigned in mid-February. According to court records, they are scheduled to appear for a “bond arraignment” on February 17th, according to reports.
Do you think police reform will finally happen now that another Black person has been killed at the hands of police officers? Or, do you think it’ll be outrage for a while, before folks forget and get back to their regularly scheduled programs?
Photos: AP Photo/Adrian Sainz/Shelby County Sheriff’s Office/AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File/MPD’s Facebook
