MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- The Memphis Police Department has disciplined an officer involved in the arrest, beating and death of Tyre Nichols, the department said Monday, widening the circle of punishment for a killing that has already led to the murder indictment of five officers and outraged the nation with another display of police brutality.
Officer Preston Hemphill, who is white, was relieved of duty shortly after Nichols' Jan. 7 arrest, the department said. Five Black officers were fired and charged last week with second-degree murder and other offenses in Nichols' beating and death.
The killing of Nichols, who was also Black, has led to days of public discussion of how police forces can treat Black citizens with excessive violence, regardless of the race of both the police officers and the people being policed.
On body camera footage from the initial stop, Hemphill is heard saying that he stunned Nichols and declaring, "I hope they stomp his ass."
Nichols' death was the latest example in a long string of early police accounts regarding use of force that were later shown to have minimized or ignored violent and sometimes deadly encounters.
Memphis Police Department officers used a stun gun, a baton and their fists as they pummeled Nichols during the nighttime arrest. Footage shows Nichols running away from officers toward his house after he was pulled over on suspicion of reckless driving. Nichols, a 29-year-old father, was heard calling for his mother and seen struggling with his injuries as he sat helpless on the pavement, video footage released Friday showed.
The five officers chatted and milled about for several minutes as Nichols remained in the ground, but there were other authorities on the scene. Two Shelby County sheriff's deputies have been relieved of duty without pay while their conduct is investigated. Two Memphis Fire Department workers were also removed from duty over Nichols' arrest.
The police department is responsible for internal disciplinary measures, such as firings, while the Shelby County's district attorney handles criminal investigations.
Hemphill was the third officer at a traffic stop that preceded the violent arrest but was not at the scene where Nichols was beaten, his lawyer Lee Gerald said.
Lawyers for the Nichols family, questioned Monday why the department did not disclose Hemphill's discipline earlier and why he has not been fired or charged.
"We have asked from the beginning that the Memphis Police Department be transparent with the family and the community -- this news seems to indicate that they haven't risen to the occasion," said the statement from Ben Crump and Anthony Romanucci. "It certainly begs the question why the white officer involved in this brutal attack was shielded and protected from the public eye, and to date, from sufficient discipline and accountability."
Memphis police spokeswoman Karen Rudolph said information on disciplinary action taken against Hemphill was not immediately released because Hemphill was not fired.
The department generally only gives out information about an officer's punishment after a department investigation into police misconduct ends, Rudolph said.
Memphis Police Director Cerelyn "CJ" Davis told The Associated Press in an interview Friday that a "lack of supervision in this incident was a major problem."
"When officers are working, you should have at least one supervisor for every group or squad of people," David said. "Not just somebody who's at the office doing the paperwork, somebody who's actually embedded in that unit."
A group of demonstrators knock on a locked entrance as they protest outside a police precinct in response to the death of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers, in Memphis, Tenn., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
A protestor yells through a locked entrance outside a police precinct in response to the death of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers, in Memphis, Tenn., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Memphis police lock a gate at a precinct as a group of demonstrators approach to protest the death of Tyre Nichols, who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers, in Memphis, Tenn., Sunday, Jan. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)