According to The Hill, the family of Tyre Nichols and their attorneys are taking their fight for justice to the international stage. The family sent a letter to the United Nations demanding change in MPD and law enforcement agencies nationwide.
Attorneys for Nichols’ family released the following statement:
“Today, we filed an Urgent Appeal before the United Nations asking it to condemn the tragic killing of Tyre Nichols, to demand transparency from the police department, and to demand that Officer Preston Hemphill and all officers that participated in the incident are criminally charged. The video evidence shows that all who were involved in Tyre’s death committed reprehensible acts that require international condemnation.”
The letter addressed to the UN High Commission for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland describes Tyre Nichols’ death as being part of a larger pattern of police brutality around the country. It compares his death to those of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
The Hill also reports that the Nichols’ family and their attorneys believe that former MPD officer Preston Hemphill was not criminally charged because of his race, according to the letter.
The family is asking for the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office to arrest and criminally charge Hemphill for his role in Nichols’ death.
Last week, Memphis Police Officer Preston Hemphill, the sixth officer identified in the investigation into Tyre Nichols death, was fired from the department, according to MPD.
Hemphill was a detective with MPD’s SCORPION Unit and had worked with SCORPION alongside the five previously fired MPD officers.
Memphis Police said that Hemphill and another unidentified officer were relieved of duty on Jan. 8, pending the investigation, making them the sixth and seventh officers connected to the incident by MPD.
The five fired officers are charged with second-degree murder.