Seventh Memphis officer suspended

WASHINGTON: Memphis police said on Tuesday a seventh officer has been suspended over the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, a young Black man whose death shocked the United States and has seen five officers fired and charged with murder.

“The Memphis Police Department began administrative investigations on officers involved in the death of Tyre Nichols on January 7, 2023. On January 8, seven officers including Officer Preston Hemphill were relieved of duty,” the Memphis Police Department said in a statement.

Hemphill, who joined the force in 2018 and who is white, is suspended “pending the outcome of the ongoing investigation,” police spokeswoman Kim Elder said in a separate statement. The Memphis Fire Department issued a statement that three of its firefighters who had responded to the police call had also been dismissed after they “failed to conduct an adequate patient assessment” of Nichols at the scene of the assault.