US indicts five ex-officers in Tyre Nichols' death
Five former Memphis policemen were federally charged on Tuesday with violating the civil rights of Black motorist Tyre Nichols by beating him to death after a traffic stop and engaging in a cover-up. - REUTERS
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00:00 Five former Memphis policemen were charged in federal court Tuesday with violating the
00:06 civil rights of Tyree Nichols by beating him to death after a traffic stop and engaging
00:11 in a cover-up.
00:12 U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland detailed the four-count federal indictment, which includes
00:17 two civil rights charges.
00:18 "Today the Justice Department informed the family of Tyree Nichols that we have charged
00:24 five former Memphis police detectives with federal crimes in connection with the death
00:29 of Mr. Nichols.
00:31 We also allege that while Mr. Nichols lay dying in a hospital, the defendants conspired
00:36 to cover up their crimes, including by falsely stating that Mr. Nichols had actively resisted
00:43 arrest."
00:45 Police body cam footage showed the five officers pummeling Nichols with kicks, punches and
00:49 baton blows, dousing him with pepper spray and firing a stun gun at him following a traffic
00:55 stop in January this year.
00:57 Nichols could be heard in the video crying out for his mother and pleading with the officers.
01:03 The 29-year-old father, aspiring photographer and avid skateboarder, was hospitalized after
01:09 the attack and died three days later.
01:12 The case has renewed a long-running national debate over racial injustice and police brutality.
01:17 U.S. President Joe Biden cited the incident in calling for police reforms during his State
01:22 of the Union address in February, as Nichols' family watched on from the audience.
01:28 Lawyers for several of the officers have already released statements saying they intend to
01:32 fight the new charges.
01:34 Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, who is representing the Nichols family, thanked the grand jury
01:38 "for affirming what we already know in our hearts, that police officers brutally killed
01:44 Tyree Nichols and it was unjustified, unnecessary and unconstitutional."
01:49 The new charges are separate from those of second-degree murder, aggravated assault and
01:53 official misconduct that were previously brought by local prosecutors in Tennessee state court
01:59 against the ex-officers, to which they pleaded not guilty in February.
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