Sixth Memphis cop fired after Tyre Nichols death

Police said a sixth officer implicated in the death of Tyre Nichols has been suspended as a powerful group of black elected officials called for a meeting with Joe Biden to discuss police reform.

Officer Preston Hemphill has been relieved of duty and placed on what is known as administrative leave, Memphis Police Major Karen Rudolph said Monday, according to multiple reports.

Rudolf did not say what role Hemphill played at the site of Nichols’ fatal beating, or whether he would be charged with a felony in connection with the murder, as had been done with several other officers. But Rudolph said the investigation into Nichols’ death is ongoing and “more information will be provided as it develops.”

Hemphill’s removal came as calls for change in the American police force intensified after Nichols was fatally beaten by police officers.

Related: ‘We’re not done yet’: End of Scorpion division after Tyre Nichols death is first step, protesters say

Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Stephen Horsford said a group of 60 members of Congress have asked to meet with the president this week to “push talks about much-needed national reforms in our justice system—in particular, the actions and behavior of our law enforcement agencies.”

The appeal to Biden, who called on Congress to reform the police, came amid protests sparked by the Nichols murder that continued in Memphis over the weekend.

Nichols, a black man, died January 10, three days after he was beaten by Memphis police officers after a traffic stop. Nichols’ parents, who were invited to attend Biden’s State of the Union address on Feb. 7, said the 29-year-old was driving home after photographing the sunset.

Video footage released by Memphis officials last week shows police officers kicking and punching Nichols, as well as using a baton.

Five Memphis officers were fired after the attack and have since been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, misconduct and official harassment.

The story goes on

“No one in our country should be afraid to interact with the police officers who serve our diverse communities, large and small,” said Horsford, a Democratic congressman from Nevada. “We all want to be safe.

“However, many black and brown people, and many young people in general, are justifiably afraid of interacting with law enforcement.”

Horsford continued: “We are calling on our House and Senate colleagues to begin negotiations immediately and work with us to combat the epidemic of public health police violence that is disproportionately affecting many of our communities.

“The brutal beating of Tyre Nichols was murder and is a grim reminder that we still have a long way to go in addressing systemic police violence in America.”

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin said on Sunday that Congress could take more policing measures such as “screening, training, accreditation to improve the game so that the people who are responsible for our safety are really stable and approaching this in the professional manner”.

Law enforcement is primarily under the jurisdiction of the states, not the federal government. But Durbin said that should not “bar” Congress from action.

“What we saw on the streets of Memphis was just inhuman and horrible,” he said. “I don’t know what created this rage in these police officers that they are congratulating themselves for beating a man to death. But that’s literally what happened.”

Also on Sunday, civil rights lawyer representing the Nichols family, Benjamin Crump, urged Congress to pass the George Floyd Police Justice Act.

The bill, developed after a Minneapolis police officer killed Floyd in May 2020, would ban chokeholds, create national standards for policing ostensibly to increase accountability, and reform qualified immunity that protects police officers from civil liability for misconduct.

The law was passed by the then Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives in March 2021, but stalled in the Senate. Now that the House of Representatives is in Republican control, it remains to be seen whether progress can be made on the bill.

Crump told CNN that more criminal charges could be brought against the Memphis police, while Steve Mulroy, the prosecutor in charge of the case, told the news channel that “we didn’t do anything last Thursday.” [when the five officers were charged] regarding the indictments does not allow us to file other charges later.”

“We will need time to allow the investigation to move forward and continue to consider the allegations,” Mulroy said.

On Saturday, the Memphis Police Department announced it was disbanding its Scorpion unit, which was tasked with actively fighting street crime. All five officers charged with Nichols’ death were part of the unit.

Later that night, protesters gathered outside Memphis City Hall to celebrate the victory, but said it was only the first step.

Local community organizer L.J. Abraham told the Guardian organizers are still demanding that the Memphis police disband other task forces they run, such as the inter-agency gang unit, and transparency in the release of body camera footage.

She showed a 2020 Guardian video of a woman showing several Memphis cops kneeling on her husband’s back while trying to handcuff him, reportedly on his property.

“Now that someone has been shot by the police, we can’t watch that video,” Abraham said, adding that Memphis police have killed four people since November. “The only reason we saw Tyre’s footage was because of how he died.”

The New York Times analysis found that police issued dozens of “contradictory and impracticable orders” to Nichols during the traffic stop and subsequent beating. In the 13 minutes between police stopping Nichols and taking him into custody, police yelled at least 71 commands, the Times reported.

“Officers ordered Mr. Nichols to show his hands, even when they were holding his hands,” the Times found out. “They told him to lie down on the ground, even when he was on the ground. And they ordered him to change his position even when they controlled his body.”

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