Former Memphis police officer Preston Hemphill was fired for his involvement in the traffic stop of Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old Black man who was brutally beaten to death by five other officers in January. But according to Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy, that’s all the punishment Hemphill will face. Mulroy said that Hemphill was involved in law enforcement’s first encounter with Nichols, when he pulled him over during a traffic stop, but not the second, when the beating took place. “By no means do we endorse the conduct of Officer Hemphill at that first traffic stop,” Mulroy said. “But we do not believe that criminal charges are appropriate.” Hemphill fired his taser at Nichols during their first encounter, which ended up being one of several violations that led to his termination from Memphis PD. Upon reviewing body camera footage, however, Mulroy said that Hemphill did so because he saw Nichols “heading towards an open car door of a police cruiser,” which “had to bear weight on our evaluation of his decision.”
