Five police officers charged with murder following the fatal beating of African-American Tire Nichols in Memphis in January are now facing federal charges, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
This affair, in which the White House was heavily involved, had raised fears of a social conflagration. Published videos of Tire Nichols’ arrest showed the five black police officers relentlessly beating the 29-year-old young man.
“The country watched in horror as Mr. Nichols was kicked, punched, Tasered and pepper-sprayed,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a brief video address posted to Twitter on Tuesday.
The agency accuses the five fired officers of “intentionally depriving Tire Nichols of his constitutional rights,” which “led to his death,” he added.
Charged with “murder.”
A federal grand jury in Memphis, Tennessee, indicted the five men on Tuesday on charges of violating Tire Nichols’ civil rights and conspiring to cover up their unlawful use of force, the department said in a statement.
The officers – Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Justin Smith, Emmitt Martin III and Desmond Mills Jr – had previously been charged in the state of Tennessee with murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, professional misconduct and abuse of office. They pleaded not guilty.
Tire Nichols was arrested on January 7th. He died in hospital three days later. Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris attended his funeral and the young man’s parents were invited to President Joe Biden’s big State of the Union address in Washington.