Three of the five police officers from Memphis, in the state of Tennessee, involved in the death of Tire Nichols, a 29-year-old African American what died in January after being beaten with batons and electrocuted with a taserthey will not be able to return to practice their profession, as decided by a police commission.
The Tennessee Peace Officer Training and Standards Commission unanimously approved Thursday the disbarment of Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith for “negligence in the line of duty” and “excessive unnecessary force,” among others, The Hill reported this Friday.
The Memphis Police Department investigator, Monique Williams, has also specified that the police officers violated “compliance with the rules on the use of body cameras and information on police matters”.
The three former agents, along with Tadarrius Bean and Desmond Mills Jr., They have already been removed from their posts. after internal investigations confirmed that they exceeded the use of force against Nichols, who was hospitalized on January 7 in critical condition and died three days later from injuries inflicted by the police.
The aforementioned ex-policemen, who were charged on January 26 on various charges including second degree murder, aggravated assault or misconduct, They pleaded not guilty and will have to go back to court on May 1.
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Nichols’ death, which was videotapedunleashed a new wave of protests in several cities across the country against police brutality that was reminiscent of the demonstrations after the death of George Floyd, whose family attended Nichols’ funeral.
Floyd’s death, which was videotaped by bystanders who were at the scene, generated a wave of global outrage, with mobilizations and marches that sometimes led to riots, and once again put racism in institutions on the table. Americans with the movimiento Black Lives Matter.