A fired Memphis police officer involved in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols took photos of the 29-year-old after he was pepper-sprayed, kicked and hit by police, and texted at least one image to at least five people, new records show.
That revelation was contained in documents released Tuesday as part of a Memphis Police Department request to decertify the five officers charged in the brutal Jan. 7 assault on Nichols. Decertification means the former officers can no longer serve as police anywhere in the state.
Demetrius Haley, one of the five officers fired on Jan. 20, sent the photo, according to the documents.
He was also the officer who physically forced Nichols out of his vehicle during the initial traffic stop and deployed his chemical irritant spray “directly close up to the subject’s eyes,” documents from Memphis Police’s Inspectional Services Bureau said.
He used profanity, laughed and “bragged” after Nichols was beat, according to the documents.
On his personal cellphone, he took two photographs “while standing in front of the obviously injured subject,” meaning Nichols, “after he was handcuffed,” the documents said.
Haley “admitted” to sharing at least one photo in a text message with five people: a civilian employee, two Memphis police officers and a female acquaintance, the documents said.
During the administrative investigation, a sixth person was identified as also having received the same photograph, the documents said.
Haley violated police policies including personal conduct, truthfulness, neglect of duty and excessive force/unnecessary force, according to police.
The dissemination of the photograph violated the department’s “Information Concerning Police Business” policy, which states “a member shall not communicate information relating to official police matters without prior approval or subpoena, except to authorized persons. A member shall treat the official business of the department as confidential,”…
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