Three members of the Memphis Fire Department who responded to the violent arrest of Dyer Nichols have been fired.
• Read more: A sixth police officer has been implicated in the brutal death of African-American Dyer Nichols
• Read more: Americans condemn police brutality in many major cities
• Read more: Dyer Nicholas’ arrest: The police unit responsible for his death is dismantled
The fire department has issued a notification to this effect.
The three individuals include first responders Robert Long and Jamichael Sandridge and Lt. Michael Whittaker.
According to the fire department, first responders did not perform a proper assessment of the patient.
Their actions or inaction this night did not meet the expectations of the Memphis Fire Department.
The layoffs come the same day a sixth police officer was implicated in the brutal death of Dyer Nichols.
Preston Hemphill, a white police officer, has been suspended “since the beginning of the investigation (…), along with other officers,” local police spokeswoman Kim Elder said in a statement, without elaborating.
On January 7, 29-year-old Dyer Nichols was arrested by police officers from a special unit in Memphis, who accused him of a traffic violation: was badly beaten, he died three days later in the hospital.
Images of the tragedy captured by agents’ on-board cameras and surveillance cameras were made public on Friday.
We see the police brutally drag the young man out of the vehicle. Pinned to the ground, he is sprayed with tear gas and targeted with an electric shock gun. Then he walked to his mother’s house. Caught, he is beaten with kicks, fists and canes.
