As they continue to face second-degree murder charges in state courts related to the homicide, five former Memphis police officers were charged on Tuesday with federal civil rights crimes in the beating death of Tyre Nichols.
Federal Civil Rights Violations Were Charged Against The 5 Former Memphis Police Officers (Photo: USA Today)
5 Former Memphis Police Officers Were Charged of Federal Civil Rights Violations
The US District Court in Memphis issued an indictment against Tadarrius Bean, Desmond Mills, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin, and Justin Smith. Each of them is accused in the four-count indictment of depriving others of their legal rights by using excessive force, failing to intervene, and showing purposeful indifference. They are also accused of conspiring to tamper with witnesses and obstructing justice by doing so.
Nine months have passed since Nichols was severely beaten by the former Memphis police during a traffic check near his Memphis home on January 7. Now, additional charges have been brought against them. The five former Memphis police have filed a not-guilty plea to state charges of second-degree murder and other alleged misdeeds in the case; Nichols passed away at a hospital three days later. Like Nichols, the five former Memphis police accused are Black.
Attorney General Merrick Garland stated in a video statement following the indictment, “We all heard Mr. Nichols scream out for his mother and say, “I’m only trying to get home.” “Tyre Nichols should still be alive today.”
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5 Former Memphis Police Officers Case
The state and federal cases are being handled separately, according to West Tennessee U.S. Attorney Kevin Ritz, who stated this during an afternoon news briefing. Ritz opted not to speculate on how soon things would emerge.
U.S. President Kristen Clarke is in charge. The civil rights division of the Department of Justice stated during the appearance that the five former Memphis police officers colluded to conceal their actions, used excessive force, and neglected to inform medical officials of Nichols’ injuries.
The Nichols beating was one of several violent incidents between Black people and police that were captured on police cameras, sparking protests and reviving the conversation about police brutality and police reform in the United States.
The inquiry that resulted in the indictment was disclosed in the weeks following the Jan. 7 beating death, and Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, expressed amazement that the federal charges “happened so quickly.”
She described her son as a “free spirit.”
She stated, at a news conference held in a Memphis church, “He should be here today. Because of those five former Memphis police officers, he isn’t.”
Many of the former Memphis police officers’ attorneys acknowledged that the indictment was not unexpected, and some of them added that their clients would fight the allegations.
A hearing has been scheduled for Friday morning in a federal lawsuit filed by Nichols’ mother against the five former Memphis police officers, the city of Memphis, and its police department. The former Memphis police officers are scheduled to make an appearance in state court on Friday in the afternoon.
