Three Memphis fire department workers have been fired amid an investigation into a motorist’s death that has shocked the US. Officials said two paramedics and a driver who responded to the scene did not provide Mr Nichols adequate care. He was punched, kicked and hit with a baton after being pulled over for an alleged traffic violation. Five policemen have been fired and charged with murder. It emerged on Monday two others have been suspended. Memphis officials said the three sacked fire department workers – Robert Long, JaMichael Sandridge and Lt Michelle Whitaker – had “failed to conduct an adequate … Continue reading Update: Three Memphis fire department staff fired over Tyre Nichols death

President Joe Biden is urging protests in Tennessee to remain peaceful as officials plan to release video of an arrest that led to a motorist’s death. Five Memphis police officers have been fired and are facing murder charges after Tyre Nichols, 29, died three days after a traffic stop on 7 January. Bodycam footage of the encounter is expected to be released on Friday evening local time. Lawyers for the Nichols family said it will show him being severely beaten. “I’m sickened by what I saw,” Tennessee Bureau of Investigation director David Rausch said on Thursday after reviewing the footage. … Continue reading Update: US President Joe Biden calls for calm over police murder of black man

A cousin of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors died hours after he was repeatedly Tasered and restrained in the street by Los Angeles police. Keenan Anderson, 31, a teacher and father, died at a hospital in Santa Monica. Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) have released body camera footage of the 3 January encounter. It shows Mr Anderson begging for help as officers hold him down. At one point he can be heard saying, “They’re trying to George Floyd me!” – a reference to the May 2020 murder of a black man in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by a policeman. A cause … Continue reading Black Lives Matter founder’s cousin dies after police arrest

A teenager is fighting for his life in a Greek hospital after a policeman shot him in the head as he fled a petrol station, allegedly without paying. The officer fired two shots at the 16-year-old Roma boy in the second biggest city Thessaloniki. Protesters took to the streets on Monday, throwing petrol bombs at police. The shooting has highlighted the recurrent issue of police violence in Greek cities. Last year an 18-year-old Roma man called Nikos Sampanis was fatally shot in a car chase near Athens and on 6 December 2008 a 15-year-old boy was shot dead in the … Continue reading Greek Roma boy shot by police prompts outrage in Greece

Five police officers in the US state of Connecticut have been charged after a man they arrested was partially paralysed in the back of a police van. Randy Cox was being driven to a police station in New Haven when the driver braked hard, causing him to be flung headfirst against the van’s rear doors. He was being held on 19 June on gun charges that were later dropped. Civil rights advocates compared the 36-year-old’s ordeal with the case of another black man in Baltimore in 2015. Freddie Gray died after suffering a spinal injury while handcuffed and shackled in … Continue reading Officers charged after Randy Cox was left paralysed in van

A police officer has quit after he accidentally recorded himself hurling ‘appalling’ racist abuse at a black person on TV. PC James Ennis sent the voice note to another police officer on WhatsApp who raised the alarm. Merseyside Police’s standards department launched misconduct proceedings, but Ennis quit before he appeared in front of a disciplinary panel. The proceedings went ahead, however, and concluded he would have been sacked for gross misconduct had he remained in the police. He has now been placed on the College of Policing barred list, preventing him from holding any policing job in the UK. A … Continue reading Police officer accidentally recorded racist rant when he saw black person on TV

A Chilean court on Thursday convicted a former special forces police captain of assault after a woman was left blinded by a tear gas canister in late 2019, when the country was rocked by massive protests. The court found that former Captain Patricio Maturana had committed “unlawful coercion resulting in serious and very serious injuries” to Fabiola Campillai, whose eyes were permanently damaged after being hit in the face by a police-issue canister while waiting for the bus. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 10, the prosecutor’s office has requested a 12-year prison sentence. The case became one of the … Continue reading Former Chilean police officer found guilty for assault that left woman blind

Four US police officers have been arrested and charged over the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor. Ms Taylor was killed in her home in Louisville, Kentucky, on 13 March 2020 by plainclothes police who were executing a “no-knock” search warrant. The hospital worker, 26, was shot as officers stormed the apartment just after midnight while she was with her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker. Her death sparked racial injustice protests around the country. Federal investigators say that three of the four officers conspired to falsify the arrest warrant that led to Ms Taylor’s death. Only one officer involved in the raid, former … Continue reading US police charged over the death of Breonna Taylor

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been sentenced to more than 20 years in prison for violating George Floyd’s civil rights. Chauvin, 46, pleaded guilty to the separate federal civil rights charges in December. He is already serving a 22-year state prison sentence for the on-duty murder of Mr Floyd, a 46-year-old black man. The two sentences will run concurrently and Chauvin will now be moved to a federal prison. But he will almost certainly spend more time behind bars following the sentencing. His sentence is due to be followed by five years of supervised release. “George’s life matters,” … Continue reading Derek Chauvin sentenced to 20 years for violating George Floyd’s rights

US police have released video of a chase in Akron, Ohio, which ended in a black man being shot dead, hit more than 60 times by pursuing officers. Police believe Jayland Walker, 25, opened fire first and officers feared for their lives during the night-time traffic stop on 27 June. Mr Walker was not armed when he ran away from his car but police say a pistol was later found inside it. Akron’s mayor urged local people to show patience as protests began. “The video is heart-breaking, it’s hard to take in,” Daniel Horrigan said after the footage was released … Continue reading Ohio police release video of deadly suspect chase of Jayland Walker

Stephen Ramos, the San Antonio police officer who fatally shot a 13-year-old boy earlier this month, also fatally shot a man last year. Officer Ramos of the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) allegedly shot into a vehicle driven by Andre Hernandez Jr because he feared the teenager was preparing to strike officers with it after he had crashed it into a police vehicle. Lee Merritt, the attorney representing Mr Hernandez’s family who has reviewed body and dashcam videos of the incident, has said that the police account of the shooting is incongruous with the footage and that police were in no immediate danger when … Continue reading Police officer who killed 13-year-old in San Antonio also shot a man last year

A man has died after he was Tasered by police and fell from Chelsea Bridge into the River Thames. Officers were called to reports a man was armed with a screwdriver and shouting at the location just after 9am on Saturday. The IOPC, the police watchdog, said on Sunday the man, aged in his early 40s, had died in hospital, and that an independent inquiry was under way. Footage posted to social media reportedly of the incident shows a man in a confrontation with police. An officer fires a Taser at him and he falls to the floor before attempting to get … Continue reading Man who fell into River Thames after being Tasered by police dies