DOJ files federal charges against five officers involved in Tyre Nichols' death

Attorney General, Merrick Garland, announced that the five Memphis Police Department (MPD) officers involved in the death of Tyre Nichols have been indicted on federal civil rights, conspiracy and obstruction charges.

Through an appearance, Garland said that Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr "willfully deprived Nichols of his constitutional rights" which caused him "bodily injury and death."

In addition, the attorney general said that "the country watched in horror as Tyre Nichols was kicked, punched, tased and pepper sprayed."

Previously, the Tennessee state attorney's office charged the five officers with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. Charges to which they pleaded not guilty.

The Death of Tyre Nichols

On January 7, 2023, five MPD officers stopped Tyre Nichols after he allegedly committed a traffic violation. Then, one of the policemen took him out of his vehicle and, together with his companions, threw him to the ground to proceed with the arrest. Nichols resisted and managed to get away from the agents on two occasions without success, as the published recordings show.

Finally, when he could not flee and was already handcuffed, the agents beat him. An ambulance rushed to the scene of the detention to take Nichols to a hospital. In one of the videos, one of the officers is heard telling another that Nichols tried to take the gun from him.

Tyre Nichols died in hospital on January 10, three days after the incident. The five officers were fired and the MPD deactivated SCORPION, the unit to which they belonged.

Shortly after his death, a wave of protests and rallies began in Memphis and eventually spread to several cities in the United States. The protesters demanded legal accountability for the officers and called for measures to reform the use of police force, something the Justice Department agreed to review.