Five former Memphis police officers who were criminally charged for beating Tyre Nichols during an arrest that led to his death are now facing federal civil rights charges.
An indictment listed on a criminal docket in US District Court in Tenneesee lists three separate counts against the men, including the use of excessive force and failure to intervene, deliberate indifference, and witness tampering.
Now-former officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin, Desmond Mills Jr and Justin Smith are also facing state criminal charges – including second-degree murder, aggravated assault and aggravated kidnapping – after officer-worn body camera and surveillance footage from January captured officers yelling conflicting commands at the 29-year-old Black man, firing a Taser at him, and beating him while he was pinned to the ground.
Nichols died in hospital three days later.
Seven Memphis Police Department officers were fired after Nichols’ death. Five are now facing federal and state charges.
A federal civil rights lawsuit filed by Nichols’ family with prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump seeks $550m in damages, accusing the city of Memphis and its police department of widespread negligence and a failure to properly train officers operating in a now-dissolved controversial unit criticised for its alleged constitutional violations.
Top row from left, now-former Memphis Police Department officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, and bottom row from left, Desmond Mills Jr and Justin Smith.— (AP)
The US Department of Justice opened a pattern or practice investigation into the MPD earlier this year to determine whether the agency has a history of excessive force, racist policing and profiling, and unconstitutional search and seizure.
Assistant US Attorney General Kristen Clarke with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and US Attorney Kevin G Ritz will announce the indictment at a press briefing on Tuesday afternoon.
This is a developing story
