Memphis police officer fired after Tyre Nichols’ death files grievance to retain MPD job

One of the Memphis police officers fired in the wake of Tyre Nichols’ beating and subsequent death has filed a grievance to keep his job with the Memphis Police Department.

Adrian Blakes was fired on Feb. 23, 2023, following an internal investigation MPD conducted into the night Nichols was beaten. He was not named as one of the officers fired until the records the department filed to have him decertified as a police officer by the Tennessee Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission were obtained in December.

Blakes was the seventh officer to be fired, and his termination came about a month after five officers were fired and then criminally charged at the state level. Blakes has not been criminally charged.

“We have a pending employment appeal challenging his termination,” Timothy Taylor, Blakes’ legal representative in the grievance, told the POST Commission Thursday. “He is not a party to any of the other litigation regarding this incident, there is certainly a possibility that he might be involved in it as a witness.”

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