Tire Nichols’ stepfather is calling for charges against paramedics who failed to provide assistance

Tire Nichols’ stepfather has called for criminal charges against the paramedics who appeared poised after being savagely beaten by police, while two deputies who responded after the altercation are also under investigation.

Released Friday, video from the Jan. 7 incident in Memphis shows at least 10 officers and two paramedics casually walking around for nearly 20 minutes as Nichols lies critically injured on the ground. He died in hospital three days later.

“Everyone — the fire department, paramedics who came out and did nothing — they’re just as guilty,” Nichols’ stepfather Rodney Wells told ABC News after the video’s release.

“Anyone who was active in the whole scene, the whole video, should be charged,” he added. Five Memphis police officers have already been charged with manslaughter.

Meanwhile, the sheriff of Shelby County, which includes Memphis, said after watching the video, he is suspending two deputies who responded to the scene after the assault, which began with a traffic stop.

Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. said in a statement, “Having watched the videotape for the first time tonight, I am concerned about two deputies arriving at the scene following the physical confrontation between police and Tire Nichols.”

Bonner said he had launched an internal investigation into the two deputies, adding that they had been relieved of their duties pending the outcome of the investigation.

The video raises disturbing questions about the apparent lack of action by first responders to treat Nichols after he was kicked and punched in the head, struck three times with a metal baton, and sprayed twice in the face with pepper spray.

Paramedics arrived on the scene about five minutes after the attack on Nichols ended, whereupon he was handcuffed and collapsed against the side of a car.

The video shows a paramedic leaning over Nichols and asking, “What did you have?” We’re trying to straighten you out, what did you have?’

Nichols is heard to make a gurgling sound, but appears unable to speak, although he had been heard speaking clearly and relatively calmly before the attack.

Officers at the scene were heard to remark that Nichols was “on something” and “high as a kite” as they joked after the attack.

Police may have told paramedics that Nichols was on drugs, though no evidence was found in the weeks following the attack that he was.

Aside from these questions about drugs, paramedics seemed to be of little help as Nichols lay sprawled on the sidewalk, unable to sit on his own and unable to speak.

The video doesn’t appear to show the paramedics checking vital signs like blood pressure, and when they plopped Nichols onto the sidewalk, his head hit the car’s hubcap at least once.

Finally, about 20 minutes after the attack ended, and about 15 minutes after they first arrived on the scene, the paramedics can be seen removing some sort of gear from their equipment and leaning over Nichols to treat him.

About five minutes later, an ambulance pulled up and removed a stretcher to transport Nichols.

Nichols died in intensive care on January 10 after suffering cardiac arrest and kidney failure as a result of his injuries.

In addition to the paramedics, sworn police officers have a duty to render assistance, and the five officers charged in the incident were fired by the Memphis Police Department for failing to do so.

The five officers who were fired and charged are Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr and Justin Smith.

They are charged with manslaughter, assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.

Memphis Police Director Cerelyn “CJ” Davis has said other officers are being investigated for their part in the arrest.

Davis described the actions of the five officers as “heinous, reckless and inhumane.”

The video released Friday evening shows 29-year-old Nichols screaming for his mother multiple times during the brutal Jan. 7 attack, which took place just a few blocks from his home.

‘Mom! Mom!’ yells Nichols as he is pinned to the ground by multiple officers, pepper sprayed in the face, kicked and punched in the head, and beaten with a metal baton.

The video shows that during the nearly four-minute altercation, police delivered at least nine blows to the FedEx employee as he shouted profanities.

Throughout the videos, officers make claims about Nichols that are not supported by the footage, or what the prosecutor or other officials have said about the case.

In one of the videos, an officer claims Nichols struggled for his gun during the first traffic stop before fleeing. The video shows no such incident.

After Nichols leaned handcuffed against a police car, several officers claimed he must have been high.

Later, an officer says no drugs were found in his car, and another officer immediately replies that Nichols must have dumped something as he ran away.

The images have been widely condemned by police forces and unions across the country.

The National President of the Fraternal Order of Police has issued a scathing statement in response to the video of police beating Nichols.

Patrick Yoes said the officers’ physical confrontation with Nichols “does not constitute legitimate police work or a misguided traffic control.”

Instead, Yoes called it a “criminal attack under the pretext of the law.”