Sixth Memphis officer relieved from duty after Tyre Nichols footage
Rachel Schilke
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A sixth police officer in Memphis, Tennessee, has been relieved of duty after released footage showed officers beating Tyre Nichols.
Nichols, 29, died from injuries sustained from a traffic stop, during which officers aggressively shoved him to the ground, beat him, pepper-sprayed him, and used a stun gun on him. The footage went public Friday night, split into four videos from both police body cameras and neighborhood surveillance videos.
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Ex-officers Desmond Mills Jr., Demetrius Haley, Tadarrius Bean, Emmitt Martin III, and Justin Smith face charges of second-degree murder, one count of official oppression, aggravated assault-act in concert, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, and two counts of official misconduct.
Haley, Martin, and Smith are in jail on $350,000 bond, and Bean and Mills were booked on $250,000 bond.
On Monday, Memphis Police said that Officer Preston Hemphill was relieved of duty on administrative leave. Fox 13 News reported that Hemphill was the one who used a stun gun on Nichols.
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Hemphill’s attorney, Lee Gerald, said he was the third officer at the initial stop of Nichols.
“I hope they stomp his a**,” Hemphill was heard saying, according to body camera footage from the first video.
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“As per departmental regulations Officer Hemphill activated his bodycam footage,” Gerald said in a statement to Fox 13. “He was never present at the second scene. He is cooperating with officials in this investigation.”
Hemphill, who joined the Memphis Police Department in 2018, has not been arrested or charged and is only under investigation as of Monday.