IDENTITY UNKNOWN

Memphis Police Relieve Seventh Cop From Duty in Tyre Nichols Case

The unnamed officer was suspended alongside Officer Preston Hemphill, who was allegedly recorded saying he hoped the others would “stomp” Nichols.

The Memphis Police Department said Monday that a seventh police officer had been relieved of duty earlier this month in relation to an ongoing investigation into the traffic-stop death of Tyre Nichols. The officer, who was not identified, was suspended alongside Officer Preston Hemphill, a white 26-year-old who was allegedly recorded yelling, “I hope they stomp his ass,” as Nichols ran from Hemphill’s colleagues as they beat him. Hemphill and “the other officer’s actions and inactions have been and continue to be the subject of this investigation since its inception,” according to a department statement. It was unclear why the seventh officer’s identity was not disclosed. Hemphill and the unidentified officer are not facing charges in Nichols’ death, unlike the five Black officers directly involved in beating him, who were arrested and indicted for murder last Thursday. It was also announced Monday that the two EMTs and ambulance driver who responded to the scene had been fired for violating protocol and failing “to conduct an adequate patient assessment” of Nichols.