A white cop involved in the arrest of Tire Nichols was fired!

The white Memphis police officer who was one of the first to hire Tire Nichols, Preston Hemphill, has been relieved of his duties effective Friday evening, according to a statement from the Memphis Police Department.

On January 7, Hemphill reportedly used his taser on a 29-year-old he encountered during a traffic stop. Hemphill chases Nichols down the road in his own body cam footage before returning to the traffic control scene.

On the body cam footage, Hemphill can be heard saying twice, “I hope they are a…” stomping. According to footage from officers’ body cameras, a gang of officers confronted Nichols later that night and he was pepper sprayed and assaulted. Three days later, Nichols died in hospital.

Officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith were fired and charged with manslaughter after being shown on camera beating Nichols. They are all people of African descent.

A statement released by the The Memphis Police Department read on Friday, “after a thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding the event, we have determined that Officer Preston Hemphill violated many department policies.”

The department alleged that these offenses included personal conduct as well as dishonesty, as well as the improper use of a taser. Hemphill’s attorney, Lee Gerald, also verified his client’s discharge from the police force.

While we are disappointed by this turn of events, Preston Hemphill will continue to cooperate with authorities in the investigation of Tire Nichols’ death, Gerald said in a statement. Hemphill was not arrested for Nichols’ murder.

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— The Memphis Police Department (@MEM_PoliceDept) February 3, 2023

The traffic check also involved a seventh officer who has yet to be identified and has been placed on administrative leave. More details will be released soon, the agency said, but for now it can be said that “several MPD officers are under investigation for department policy violations” in connection with Nichols’ arrest and death.

The Memphis Fire Department said earlier this week it had fired three employees who had responded to Nichols’ assault in an ambulance. The fire department stated that they fired EMTs Robert Lang and JaMicheal Sandridge for failing to “adequately assess Mr. Nichols” on the spot. The first MFD officer on the scene, Lieutenant Michelle Whitaker, was also fired.

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