Memphis Fire Dept. to end probe into personnel fired in Tyre Nichols’ death

January 28, 2023

The Memphis Fire Department said it will conclude an internal investigation next week that it launched over the actions of two personnel who were on the scene when black motorist Tyre Nichols was savagely beaten by multiple cops earlier this month.

Nichols died on Jan. 10, three days after being stopped by five Memphis cops in a beating incident that was caught on video and is currently under investigation by the state’s Bureau of Investigation and the FBI.

Following the beating, in which the 29-year-old father of one was hit with pepper spray and tased, he was propped up next to a car by the police at the scene, according to more than an hour of footage released by the Memphis Police Department Friday night.

Roughly 20 minutes after Nichols was put in handcuffs, EMS arrived. He was then loaded onto a gurney and taken to the hospital.

The staffers, who were involved in the “initial patient care” of Nichols, according to the department, were relieved of their duties earlier this month. The personnel were not identified by name, and it’s not clear if they were EMS workers.

Angry comments were posted to the Memphis Fire Department’s social media accounts shortly after the police department released the graphic video of Nichols’ beat-down.

“Being a retired Fireman with MFD, you are taught in training and reinforced throughout to render aid, whether your (sic.) first responder, EMT, or paramedic, unless the scene or circumstances around the scene is unsafe,” Cedric Pryor wrote in a Facebook post Friday. “The individuals that responded failed to perform what has been taught to every member of the Fire Department. This was a neglect of duty by the EMTs or Paramedics who arrived on the scene first.”

The Memphis Fire Department vehicle — The members of the Memphis Fire Department who administered initial care had been relieved of their duties.

Tyre Nichols — Nichols died in the hospital three days after the night of the arrest.

Five officers were charged in the beating of Nichols on January 7. — Five officers were charged in the beating of Nichols on Jan. 7.

The Memphis Fire Department released a statement sharing that they would be conducting their own investigation.

Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, who died in 2014 on Staten Island after being put in an illegal chokehold by an NYPD officer while being arrested for selling loose cigarettes, told The Post Saturday that she was “distressed” by the video showing Nichols’ beatdown.

“It was so disgraceful,” she said. “I couldn’t even watch most of the video because it reminded me of what they did to my son. The EMTs did nothing. It was awful. They took advantage of an innocent young man, and they [the police] hid behind their uniforms.”

In Garner’s case, EMTs who responded after the 43-year-old was held in a prohibited chokehold by a cop waited crucial minutes to help him, according to video footage of the incident.

The Memphis Fire Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.

Nichols’ fatal beating led to the firing, arrests and indictments of Memphis police officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Demond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith.