VP Harris to attend Nichols funeral as prosecutors weigh extra fees By Reuters

By Alyssa Pointer

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Reuters) – Vice President Kamala Harris will attend Wednesday’s funeral of Tyre Nichols, the Black man who died three days after Memphis cops savagely beat him following a visitors cease earlier this month, the White Home stated on Tuesday.

Nichols might be eulogized by the Reverend Al Sharpton at a service at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis on Wednesday morning. Members of the family of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, who have been killed by police in Louisville, Kentucky, and Minneapolis in 2020, may also attend.

In the meantime, Shelby County District Legal professional Steve Mulroy stated on Tuesday that prosecutors may deliver extra felony fees in opposition to cops and others in reference to Nichols’ deadly beating, after mounting criticism over how Mulroy’s workplace and the Memphis Police Division have dealt with the case.

5 officers, all Black, have been charged final week with second-degree homicide and dismissed from the pressure. The division confirmed on Monday {that a} sixth officer, Preston Hemphill, had been suspended from obligation quickly after the Jan. 7 assault however has not been criminally charged.

After video footage of the lethal encounter with police was made public on Friday, calls have grown louder for native police officers and prosecutors to be extra clear in regards to the circumstances of the incident, on condition that the preliminary police experiences don’t match what was seen on the movies.

The household’s legal professional Ben Crump on Tuesday stated that police had not been candid with Nichols’ mom in regards to the incident, which he known as a “police lynching.”

“She thought it was a conspiracy to cowl it up from the start,” Crump stated on CNN.

In an announcement on Twitter, District Legal professional Mulroy stated different officers, fireplace division personnel and others who ready documentation of the incident might also face felony fees as extra info turns into out there.

“We’re taking a look at all people concerned within the occasions main as much as, throughout, and after the beating of Tyre Nichols,” his workplace stated, including that the investigation is incomplete.

In an obvious reference to Hemphill, the workplace stated an officer current in the course of the preliminary encounter with Nichols might also face fees. Hemphill, who’s white, wore the physique digicam that captured the primary of 4 movies launched by authorities of the visitors cease and violent confrontation that adopted, in keeping with his legal professional, Lee Gerald.

Within the video, it’s Hemphill who seems to fireside a stun gun at Nichols after Nichols is dragged from his automotive, compelled to the bottom and doused with pepper spray earlier than he breaks free and runs away. The 5 officers who have been later dismissed chased him.

A seventh officer who was not instantly recognized was additionally relieved of obligation with out pay, the division stated on Monday, and that officer has not been charged. His position within the incident has not been disclosed.

Three members of the Memphis Fireplace Division who responded to the altercation have been dismissed on Monday after investigators discovered Nichols was left handcuffed on the bottom with out medical consideration for almost quarter-hour after the beating.

Police Chief Cerelyn Davis has stated an unspecified variety of officers apart from the 5 initially charged stay beneath investigation for coverage infractions stemming from Nichols’ arrest.