Court filings have revealed that a federal grand jury has indicted five former Memphis police officers in connection with the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols.
The indicted officers, namely Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr., and Justin Smith, face charges including federal civil rights violations, conspiracy, and obstruction offenses that led to Nichols’ death.
29-year-old Black man, Tyre Nichols, passed away in a hospital following a violent encounter with Memphis police officers in January.
Nichols sustained repeated punches and kicks from the five officers following a traffic stop and brief foot chase. His injuries from the encounter led to hospitalization and eventual death three days later.
Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a statement condemning officers who violate the civil rights of the community they are sworn to protect, emphasizing the Justice Department’s commitment to hold such officers accountable for breaching their duty.
The federal indictment alleges that the officers “willfully deprived” Nichols of his constitutional rights to be free from unreasonable force by law enforcement, and that they “unlawfully assaulted” him and failed to intervene, ultimately causing his fatal injuries.
Reacting to the federal indictment, defense attorney for Desmond Mills, Blake Ballin, expressed their readiness to address the additional layer of investigation and reaffirmed Mills’s innocence in both state and federal cases.
Ballin further stated, “We have been expecting this federal indictment and it does not change Mr. Mills’s position. As in the state case, Mr. Mills maintains his innocence. He will turn himself in on the federal indictment and continue to defend himself against all allegations in both the state and federal court systems.”
