Jan. 21 (UPI) — Five Memphis police officers who were involved with the hospitalization and subsequent death of a man pulled over in a traffic stop this month have been fired, the department has announced.
The officers, identified as Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr., and Justin Smith, were all fired late Friday, Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn “CJ” Davis announced in an issued statement.
“Earlier today, each officer charged was terminated from the Memphis Police Department,” Davis said. “The egregious nature of this incident is not a reflection of the good work that our officers perform with integrity, every day.”
The chief said the five officers were each found in violation of “multiple department policies,” including excessive use of force, failure to intervene and duty to render aid in connection with the Jan. 7 incident involving Tyre Nichols, 29, of Memphis, who died three days after the traffic stop.
The firings came following a two-week internal investigation into the incident.
Nichols’ family members and other supporters from Memphis’ Black community gathered on Martin Luther King Day to demand that the officers involved in his death be fired and charged with murder.
“I want justice for my baby brother,” Nichols’ sister, Keyana Dixon, tearfully told supporters during a demonstration at the National Civil Rights Museum in the city. “He did not deserve this.”
Family members said Nichols endured a horrific beating in which he sustained kidney failure and brain swelling and was placed on a dialysis machine prior to his death, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported.
State authorities said the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the incident and on Wednesday U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee Kevin Ritz said his office, the FBI Memphis Field Office and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice have also opened a civil rights investigation into Nichols’ death.
The city of Memphis and Memphis Police Department “will fully cooperate with these agencies and provide them with what is needed to conduct their investigation,” local officials said.
