Following Tyre Nichols' fatal beating by five former police officers, two additional officials, Shelby County deputies, were suspended on Wednesday. Three Memphis fire employees are currently appealing their terminations.

After an administrative investigation determined that two patrol deputies, Jeremy Watkins and Johntavious Bowers, had broken Shelby County Sheriff's Office rules when they arrived on the scene after the physical altercation between Memphis police and Nichols, they were suspended for five days without pay.

Tyre Nichols Was Punched And Kicked by Memphis Police

As of this past Wednesday, the suspensions were in force. Deputy Watkins and Deputy Bowers, both of whom have been employed since June 2021, were charged with breaking rules pertaining to radio communications, mobile video recording system operations, and patrol field work duties and responsibilities. 

Police in Memphis, Tennessee, repeatedly hit and kicked Nichols, 29, while he was being arrested after a traffic check on January 7. After the arrest, Tyre Nichols needed to be hospitalized, and he passed just three days later, as per Fox News.

According to the findings, the deputies also failed to inform dispatch or their supervisor. According to the claims, Watkins also failed to note in his daily diary that he visited the scene of the arrest. As per Bonner, the sheriff's office does not anticipate that the deputies will be prosecuted.

For their alleged role in Nichols' death, numerous Memphis Police Department and Memphis Fire Department employees have been dismissed. Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith, five former Memphis police officers, have now been detained and accused with a number of offences, including second-degree murder.

According to CNN, they were arrested and taken to the Shelby County Jail, where their bonds were set at $350,000 for Martin and Haley and $250,000 for Bean, Mills, and Smith. They have now been released after posting bond, according to online jail records.

Blake Ballin, the attorney for Mills, and William Massey, the attorney for Martin, both told reporters last month that their clients were "devastated" by the accusations and would be entering a not guilty plea. In response to earlier requests for comment, the defense lawyers for Bean, Haley, and Smith either declined or did not answer.

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Footage From Incident Made Public

On January 27, footage from the city's security cameras and the former officers' body-worn cameras that documented the traffic stop on January 7 was made available to the public. National indignation has been generated by the violent footage, which shows the officers beating Nichols. According to Nichols' family, he had a 4-year-old son, enjoyed skating, and was a wonderful person.

With Nichols' passing, lawmakers are now dealing with a fresh wave of requests for police reform.

In 2021, after months of protracted conversations, Democratic Rep. Karen Bass of California, Democratic Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina failed to reach an agreement on police reform. Senators from Illinois and Illinois' Democratic Whip Dick Durbin pushed them to meet again.

The failure of Booker and Scott to agree on a Democratic proposal to codify a Trump administration executive order that would have implemented improvements like outlawing chokeholds and no-knock warrants and enhancing federal data gathering efforts led to the breakdown of negotiations.

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act would ban racial profiling, lower the bar for qualified immunity for police, and limit the use of excessive force, CBS News reported. In 2020 and 2021, the Democratically controlled House passed it twice, but now that the GOP is in power in that chamber, its future is still in doubt.

Related Article: Memphis Officer Lied About Tyre Nichols' Reckless Driving, Mishandled Evidence

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