BREAKING NEWS: The Memphis Fire Department BRANDS two paramedics and a lieutenant who called out the fatal blow to Tire Nichols after they ‘broke numerous protocols’ by ignoring the victim of police brutality as he lay dying
- The trio were called to assist the Memphis Police Department on Jan. 7 after they pursued and arrested 29-year-old Tire Nichols following a traffic stop
- Five members of the Memphis Police Department were fired last week for the fatal beating of the FedEx driver, and a sixth officer lost his job on Monday
- The three firefighters were fired for ignoring protocol and actions that “did not meet expectations”.
The Memphis Fire Department announced Monday night that it had fired three employees for failing to help Tire Nichols as he lay dying following a Jan. 7 police strike.
The trio consisted of two paramedics, Robert Long and JaMichael Sandridge, and Lieutenant Michelle Whitaker.
The Memphis Fire Department said the two paramedics “failed to conduct proper patient assessment” and failed to meet the three “expectations” in their actions.
Her sacking comes hours after a sixth police officer, Preston Hemphill, was arrested on charges of losing his job. Hemphill was one of the officers who initially stopped Nichols at a traffic stop and fired his taser as Nichols ran away. Hemphill was not there when Nichols was caught and beaten to death.
Long and Sandridge arrived at the scene after Nichols was caught and beaten in a driver-driven vehicle with Whitaker also inside.
She stayed in the vehicle while Long and Sandridge got out to take care of the call.
JaMichael Sandridge (left) and Robert Long, both fire department paramedics, were fired Monday after failing to attend to the dying Tire Nichols
Lieutenant Michelle Williams was also fired Monday night: she remained in the fire truck when they arrived at the scene
Tire Nichols, 29, was brutally beaten like a “human pinata” by five Memphis, Tennessee police officers, all African American, on Jan. 7 and died in hospital three days later of kidney failure and cardiac arrest