Preston Hemphill, the white Memphis police officer involved in the arrest of Tyre Nichols, who is heard wishing Tyre harm on body cam evidence, has been fired.
Memphis PD stated in a statement that they performed a comprehensive assessment of Tyre’s arrest and decided that Hemphill violated many departmental regulations, including personal behaviour, honesty, and improper Taser use.
He was one of the first cops to approach Tyre during the January 7 tragic traffic stop, and he is suspected of using his Taser on Tyre.
Hemphill was fired by the Memphis Police Department on Friday, and he has not been legally charged in connection with Tyre’s murder.
The body cam video of Hemphill shows him following Nichols on foot, and he can be heard twice stating, “I hope they stomp his a**.”
As you are aware, Tyre was later stopped by five black police officers, who used pepper spray and beat him so severely that he complained of shortness of breath and died three days later in the hospital.
Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith were fired prior to Hemphill and have been charged with second-degree murder.
Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney representing Tyre’s family, has questioned why Hemphill is not being charged.
Earlier this week, the Memphis Fire Department dismissed three members who went to the site in an ambulance, including two EMTs and a lieutenant, for violating numerous policies and protocols during Tyre’s arrest.
Source – Tru News Report
