Another officer involved in Tyre Nichols arrest fired

MEMPHIS, Tennessee– Preston Hemphill, the white Memphis police officer who was one of the first officers to confront Tire Nichols, was fired from the force, the Memphis Police Department said Friday night.

The video in the media player is from an earlier report.

Hemphill encountered the 29-year-old at a traffic stop on January 7 and allegedly used his taser during the confrontation. In his own body camera video, Hemphill can be seen chasing Nichols down the street, but then returns to the scene of the first traffic stop.

Hemphill was heard saying twice on his body cam video, “I hope they trample his A–.”

Nichols was later confronted by a group of officers who used pepper spray and beat him, according to body camera footage from the night. Nichols died in hospital three days later.

2 other officers involved in the death of Tire Nichols were relieved of duty, 2 EMTS were fired

The five police officers seen in the video beating Nichols — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith — have been fired and charged with second-degree murder. They are all black.

The Memphis PD said in a statement Friday that “after a thorough review of the circumstances surrounding the incident, it was determined that Officer Preston Hemphill violated several department policies.”

Those violations included personal conduct, truthfulness and a violation for failing to use the TASER in accordance with regulations, the department said.

Hemphill has not yet been charged in connection with Nichols’ death.

A seventh unidentified officer who was part of traffic control has been placed on administrative leave.

The department said that “several MPD officers are being investigated for violations of department policy” related to the arrest and death of Nichols, and more information would be released shortly.

Earlier in the week, the Memphis Fire Department announced it had fired three of its members who were in an ambulance that had been struck after Nichols.

Paramedics Robert Long and JaMicheal Sandridge, who first assessed Nichols at the scene, were fired for “failing to conduct an appropriate patient assessment of Mr. Nichols,” according to the fire department. MFD Lt. Michelle Whitaker, who was in the first ambulance at the scene, was also released.