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On January 28, protesters in Memphis took to the streets for Nichols to demand justice and to express their anger and sadness.
Photo: Gerald Herbert/AP
Two paramedics who were called to attend to Tire Nichols did not attend to Nichols for 19 minutes, who was writhing on the ground in pain.
According to American media reports, this was the conclusion reached by an investigative committee of the rescue services.
The paramedics were suspended.
Nichols was pulled over for "reckless driving" in Memphis, Tennessee, police said in early January.
The police officers stated that there had been "confrontations".
However, a video recording of the operation showed that Nichols was brutally beaten by the officers.
He died in hospital a few days after the crime.
Six police officers involved in the crime were fired.
Paramedics' inaction may have "contributed to the patient's death."
The video recordings also show that the requested paramedics did not provide any help.
The New York Times reports that paramedics did not examine Nichols for 19 minutes.
An EMT on the Nichols medical investigation board said there were "reasons to believe" that the inaction of emergency responders "contributed to the patient's death."
Earlier in the week, the Memphis Fire Department had already fired two men who, according to their supervisors, had arrived at Nichols.
One of the two men did not even leave the emergency vehicle and failed to take care of Nichols.
He could no longer sit on his own
When the fire brigade and paramedics arrived, Nichols could no longer sit under his own power.
The New York Times reports that the police officers told the paramedics that Nichols had taken drugs.
As of this writing, nothing proves that Nichols was actually on drugs.
While he was lying on the ground, the paramedics did not touch him for a long time and also moved away from him.
Nichols' death and the brutality of the police operation had led to nationwide protests and renewed discussion of racially motivated violence in the United States.
29-year-old Nichols was African American.
Five of the suspended police officers who beat him were also black.
A sixth police officer, who was only released on Friday and who is said to have violated the rules for using tasers during the operation, was white.
Deadly police attacks are common in the United States.
According to mappingpoliceviolence.org, more than 1,100 people have been killed by police in the past year.
According to the reports, black people in the US are almost three times as likely to be killed by the police as white people.
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