Posted on by Randy Slovacek

Sixth Memphis Police Officer Suspended In Tyre Nichols Case

Officer Preston Hemphill, who deployed the taser that struck Nichols in the torso at a traffic intersection, was placed on administrative leave the same day the other five officers were suspended.
Preston Hemphill (photo: Memphis Police Dept via Reuters)

A sixth Memphis Police Department officer was relieved of duty for his part in the beating and subsequent death of Tyre Nichols.

Officer Preston Hemphill, who deployed the taser that struck Nichols in the torso at a traffic intersection, was placed on administrative leave the same day the other five officers were suspended.

From the New York Times:

Officer Hemphill’s lawyer, Lee Gerald, said in a statement that one of the four videos of the encounter that were released by the city on Friday, labeled Video 1, came from Officer Hemphill’s body camera.

“He was never present at the second scene,” where officers caught up with Mr. Nichols after a brief foot chase and beat him severely, Mr. Gerald said of Officer Hemphill. He added that his client “is cooperating with officials in this investigation.”

Read the full report here.

In the video referenced by the lawyer, Hemphill is the officer who violently pulled Nichols from his car, tasered Nichols, and is heard saying, “I hope they stomp his ass.”

Submitted without comment: It would be difficult not to note that Hemphill is white, while the five officers charged with second degree murder are Black. Make of that what you will.