A sixth Memphis police officer has been suspended over the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols earlier this month.
A lawyer for Preston Hemphill confirmed he was the white officer whose body camera footage was released by Memphis PD on Friday.
The video shows the officer attempting to arrest FedEx driver Nichols, 29, after he had initially been pulled over, then firing his Taser at him as he ran from police. Hemphill initially gives chase, but gives up and returns to the scene of the traffic stop.
He speaks to another officer, saying “one of the prongs” from his Taser had “hit the b—ard”. Later in the footage says “I hope they stomp his ass,” referring to Nichols, a number of times.
However, Hemphill’s lawyer, Lee Gerald, said in a statement his client was never at the second scene where cops beat Nichols unconscious.
“Officer Hemphill is relieved of duty. This is an ongoing investigation. Once additional information is available, we will update our social media platforms. Hemphill was hired in 2018,” a department spokesperson said.
In Hemphill’s bodycam, he helps pour water in an unidentified officer’s eyes after he got pepper spray in them and he spends minutes trying to catch his breath again following his brief run after Nichols.
Other video taken during the deadly Jan. 7 traffic stop showed Memphis officers aggressively pull Nichols, who was black, from his car then give chase after he managed to break free.
Five officers caught up with him minutes later and mercilessly beat him, using a telescopic baton and a Taser as he begged for his mother, whose home was only about 60 yards away, leaving him unconscious.
Officers Tadarrius Bean, 24, Demetrius Haley, 30, Emmitt Martin III, 30, Desmond Mills Jr., 32, and Justin Smith, 28, who are all black, were fired on Jan. 20 after an internal investigation found they had used excessive force and failed in their duties to intervene and render aid.
Days later, they were all charged with second-degree murder and other offenses and booked into Shelby County jail. Each officer posted between $250,000 and $350,000 bail and has since been released.
Read more of The Post’s coverage of Tyre Nichols’ beating death
- Seventh Memphis police officer punished in Tyre Nichols’ death
- Memphis cop charged in Tyre Nichols’ death previously beat up inmate, ex-prisoner alleges
The police have declined to comment on the role Hemphill had in the traffic stop. He has not been fired or charged with a crime at this time. He arrived at the scene just after other officers, who had pulled Nichols over claiming he was driving recklessly.
The release of the video of the assault prompted protests across the US against police violence. People took to the streets in New York, Atlanta, Memphis, Oakland and Baltimore over the weekend in what were largely peaceful protests.
Many have been sickened by the bodycam video from the night of the police altercation. At one point, Nichols is lying on the ground defenseless as two cops hold him down while a third kicks him in the face multiple times.
A fourth cop bludgeons him with a baton while another eggs him on, yelling “Hit him!” The video showed Nichols was punched in the head at least six times.
Nichols is then handcuffed and propped up against the side of a nearby police car.
Officers are seen on the video milling about, though none appears to pay attention to the badly battered Nichols pleading for help.
Paramedics arrive but wait about 15 minutes to treat Nichols. At least 20 minutes after that, an ambulance arrives and transports Nichols, who is complaining about shortness of breath, to St. Francis Hospital in critical condition.
Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis condemned the incident, calling it “a failing of basic humanity toward another individual. This incident was heinous, reckless and inhumane,” adding it was “about the same if not worse” than the notorious 1991 beating of Rodney King, who was viciously assaulted by Los Angeles police during a traffic stop.
Three days after the beating, Nichols died due to the injuries sustained in the “use-of-force incident with officers,” the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said.
A preliminary autopsy report concluded he had “suffered excessive bleeding caused by a severe beating,” although the official cause of his death has yet to be released.
The Memphis police force’s elite Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods or “SCORPION” unit — of which the officers involved in Nichols’ beating were members — has been shut down because of the “heinous actions of a few,” the police department said.
“In the process of listening intently to the family of Tyre Nichols, community leaders and the uninvolved officers who have done quality work in their assignments, it is in the best interest of all to permanently deactivate the SCORPION unit,” the department wrote on Twitter.
“The officers currently assigned to the unit agree unreservedly with this next step. While the heinous actions of a few casts a cloud of dishonor on the title, SCORPION, it is imperative that we, the Memphis Police Department, take proactive steps in the healing process for all impacted.”