police violence
Death of Tire Nichols: Paramedics apparently stood by for 19 minutes and did nothing
Paramedics take care of Tire Nichols, who is lying on the ground
© City of Memphis/AP/DPA
The police officers who beat Tire Nichols to death have been fired. According to an investigation report, two paramedics are also to blame.
The death of Tire Nichols at the hands of police brutality shook the United States. The black American was stopped at a traffic stop in Memphis on January 7 and beaten to death by police officers. Five police officers involved in the crime were subsequently fired and charged with second-degree murder.
Meanwhile, a sixth officer has also been fired who, while not believed to have been involved in the beating, was also present at the traffic stop and is said to have fired his taser at Nichols. This officer is white, the other five are black. Nichols died of his injuries in hospital three days after the incident.
Complicity in the death of 29-year-old Nichols could also have two paramedics who may not have been determined enough to provide first aid. The two rescue workers who arrived first at the scene were suspended from duty, according to US media reports. An investigation report states that they did not take care of the seriously injured in the first 19 minutes after their arrival.
Tire Nichols: Paramedics just stood around
Video recordings show that the two just stood around during this period of time without providing medical help to Nichols, who was lying on the ground. They had not checked his vital signs, examined him in any other way, or given him oxygen. The two rescuers, one white and one black, are members of the Memphis Fire Department.
The commission investigating the misconduct of the two paramedics found it obvious that the victim was in distress. “They were his best shot, but they didn’t help,” said the commission’s chairman, physician Sullivan Smith. Another commissioner explained loudly New York Timesthere is “every reason to believe” that the inaction of the emergency services “could have contributed to the death of the patient”.
The Memphis Fire Department has now fired the two paramedics, as well as a third responder who didn’t even leave the fire engine, the fire chief reported, according to the New York Times. Like many cases before him, the death of Tire Nichols has fueled the discussion about police violence against black people in the United States.