More than a dozen Memphis firefighters and police officers have been accused of beating Tyre Nichols.

More than a dozen Memphis fire and police officers have been charged in connection with the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols, a city official said Tuesday after an investigation into Nichols’ death in January was completed.

Memphis General Counsel Jennifer Sink said both agencies were conducting administrative investigations to determine if any of the employees had violated department rules.

Four members of the Memphis Fire Department have been charged, Sink said at a presentation before the Memphis City Council Public Safety Committee.

According to Sink, three employees were fired and one suspended from work. It is unclear what their exact allegations are. Sink said more information would be released on Wednesday, as well as 20 hours of video and audio of the January 7 beating.

Sheena Nichols.
Sheena Nichols.Courtesy of the Ben Crump Law

The three fired employees were previously identified as EMTs Robert Long, JaMichael Sandridge, and Lt. Michelle Whitaker. The fire department said in a statement that it was found in their response to Nichols that they violated several department policies and protocols.

The fourth employee has not been identified.

The city’s investigation also resulted in the indictment of 13 members of the police department, though two were ultimately cleared of charges, Sink said.

Seven of them were fired, three were suspended and one resigned before the hearing, Sink said.

One of the committee members asked if any of the officers who hit Nichols worked for the department. Sink said one of the suspended officers “really put his hands” on Nichols’ legs.

“But it was not a strike or an attack,” she said. “He received a suspension as a result of his participation.”

Earlier, five police officers were fired and faced criminal charges for their involvement in Nichols’ death. They are Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith. They were all charged with second-degree murder, two counts of misconduct in office, two counts of aggravated kidnapping, one count of official harassment, and one count of aggravated assault.

Preston Hemphill and another unnamed officer were “released from service”.

Police initially said they pulled over Nichols, 29, for reckless driving, but Police Chief Serelyn “CJ” Davis said her office found no evidence to support the claim. In a video released in January, police officers appeared to have sprayed pepper spray on him, punched him, beat him with a truncheon, and kicked him in the face while he was apprehended.

He was eventually taken to the hospital, where he died three days later.

Lawyers for the Nichols family said the beating was reminiscent of the 1991 beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers. Ravon Wells, Nichols’ mother, said her son was just trying to get home when he was stopped by the police.

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