Sixth Memphis Police Officer Disciplined After Tyre Nichols Arrest

An officer who was recorded using a stun gun on Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who died after Memphis police beat him at a traffic stop, has been suspended pending an ongoing investigation, police confirmed to HuffPost on Monday.

Preston Hemphill was relieved of duty but has not been fired from the department, Memphis Police Department spokesperson Kimberly Elder said.

Five other Memphis Police Department officers who were involved in Nichols’ Jan. 7 arrest ― Desmond Mills, Justin Smith, Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley and Emmitt Martin ― have been fired and charged with second-degree murder and other offenses. They were released on bond.

The five officers were a part of the city’s SCORPION unit, which was disbanded following Nichols’ arrest and death.

Hemphill joined the Memphis Police Department in 2018, according to the department. Elder said the department would provide more information about its decision on social media.

Police released bodycam footage on Friday that showed officers beating, pepper-spraying, Tasing and verbally degrading Nichols during a traffic stop. Officers pulled him out of the car and gave him multiple verbal commands without indicating why they had stopped him in the first place.

At one point during the incident, an officer can be heard saying: “I hope they stomp his ass.”

Nichols died three days after the arrest. The family released a photo of him on a hospital bed with a face disfigured from the injuries.

An independent autopsy found “suffered extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating,” according to Crump and attorney Antonio Romanucci, who are representing the family.

Following the release of the footage, two Shelby County deputies who were on the scene were suspended, as well as two Memphis Fire department employees involved in the initial patient care of Nichols.