According to local authorities, the U.S. Justice Department will take part in a study of the Memphis Police Department following the murder of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who was fatally assaulted by police in the Tennessee city last month.
Jim Strickland, the mayor of Memphis, revealed the review in a message. The bulletin stated that an “independent, external assessment” sought by the city to evaluate the Memphis Police Department’s special units and use-of-force policy would include participation from the Justice Department and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
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On Sunday, a request for comment from the Justice Department did not get a prompt response.
The sixth officer implicated in Nichols’ killing was terminated by Memphis police on Friday. Five other cops, all of whom were Black, had already been dismissed and accused of second-degree murder. A white police officer is the sixth to be let go.
Following a traffic stop on January 7, Nichols screamed “Mom! Mom!” over and over again while the five Memphis police officers accused of killing the Black driver beat him with kicks, punches, and strikes with a baton.
Three days after the altercation in the city where he resided with his mother and stepfather and worked at FedEx, he was taken to the hospital and passed away from his wounds.
His passing has intensified the current national discussion in the US regarding racial inequality and police brutality.
According to the city, the assessment would include participation from the Office of Community-Oriented Policing Services of the Justice Department. RowVaughn Wells, Nichols’ mother, and Rodney Wells, his stepfather, are scheduled to attend President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday in Washington.
Vice President Kamala Harris and relatives of other Black individuals slain by police in American cities attended Nichols’ burial on Wednesday, which was conducted in a Memphis church.
