After the death of Tire Nichols: Another US police officer from Memphis suspended

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Memorial to Tire Nichols at a memorial in Boston, Massachusetts

Photo: IMAGO/mpi34 / IMAGO/MediaPunch

Another police officer has been suspended after the brutal killing of African-American man Tire Nichols by police officers in Memphis, Tennessee.

A police spokeswoman said he was released from duty "at the beginning of the investigation into the death of Tire Nichols along with the other police officers".

The police did not give a reason for the suspension.

Police officers brutally beat Nichols during an evening traffic stop on January 7th.

The 29-year-old died three days later in a hospital.

Last Thursday, five police officers who were suspended and then fired after the incident were charged with second-degree murder, which in Tennessee is an intermediate stage between murder and manslaughter.

Like the victim, the five men are African American.

On Friday, the authorities then released video footage of the incident, which caused great outrage in the United States.

Lawyers for Nichols' family said the sixth police officer fired a stun gun (Taser) at the 29-year-old at the beginning of the violent arrest.

Nichols' family said they were "extremely disappointed" that the officer, who has worked for the Memphis Police Department since 2018, was not fired and charged like the other officers.

Tire Nichols' family: "The white cop was shielded"

"Certainly the question arises as to why the white police officer involved in this brutal attack was shielded and shielded from the light of public view, and up until now, from adequate discipline and accountability," the family said.

The police officer's lawyer told the Washington Post that his client was at the scene of the first confrontation between the police and Nichols, but not at the place where the other officers brutally beat the 29-year-old a short time later.

Nichols was initially stopped at an intersection, pulled out of his car and pinned to the ground by police officers.

Officers also used pepper spray and a taser while apparently confusing Nichols with conflicting orders.

Nichols then got free and ran, but after a short chase he was stopped again and punched and kicked by police officers.

jso/AFP