Memphis police (Tennessee) announced Monday that it has suspended a sixth agent as part of an investigation into the fatal beating of young African-American Tyr Nichols during an arrest for an alleged traffic violation.
Agent Preston Hemphill, hired in 2018, was suspended when the investigation began, but his name has not yet been released.
His attorney, Lee Gerald, indicated in a statement released to the press that his client was present when agents initially questioned the youth, but not at the second incident, when Nichols was hit and beaten by five police officers. On the run from his first encounter with the agents.
“He is cooperating with the investigation,” the lawyer added in his note.
The other five officers — all African-American, unlike Hemphill, who is white — remain in custody and face various criminal charges in the death of Nichols, who was arrested in Memphis on Jan. 7.
The video of the arrest released on the 27th shows policemen detaining the young man, forcing him out of the vehicle and beating him, kicking him on the head, hitting him with batons and even using stun guns, electric or stun guns Gun was also used. taser
When the beating was over, they dragged Nichols to a patrol car, made him sit on the ground and pumped their fists in celebration.
The brutality of the arrest, which led to Nichols’ death three days later, revived calls for a change in mindset among US police by protesters and members of Congress, who have been accused of using force against the black community.
At the local level, Memphis police announced Saturday that it has decided to disband the “Scorpion” unit, consisting of officers who beat, that was created in 2021 with the aim of reducing violence in the city’s neighborhoods Was. Suffer the most
