A Tennessee board on Friday suspended the emergency medical technician licenses of two former Memphis Fire Department employees for failing to render critical care to Tyre Nichols after he took a beating from police that ultimately killed him.
The suspensions of EMT Robert Long and advanced EMT JaMichael Sandridge build on efforts by authorities to hold officers and other first responders accountable for the violence against Nichols, who was Black. Five Black officers have been fired and charged with second-degree murder and other charges, and two more officers have been suspended. The Justice Department has opened a civil rights probe into the attack that was captured on video.
Matt Gibbs, an attorney for the state Department of Health, said the two suspensions were "not final disposition of this entire matter." Board member Sullivan Smith said it was "obvious to even a lay person" that Nichols "was in terrible distress and needed help." Long and Sandridge, based on the nature of the call and information they were told by police, "failed to conduct an adequate patient assessment of Mr. Nichols," the statement said.
Nichols was beaten after police stopped him for what they said was a traffic violation. Video released after pressure from Nichols' family shows officers holding him down and repeatedly punching, kicking and striking him with a baton as he screamed for his mother.
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