Tyre Nichols.Photo: facebook
Five former police officers connected to the death ofTyre Nicholshave now been indicted on federal charges.
The five ex-cops involved – Tadarrius Bean, 24, Demetrius Haley, 30, Emmitt Martin III, 31, Desmond Mills Jr., 33, and Justin Smith, 28 – wererelieved from their dutiesafter the incident occurred.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced in apress releasethat the former officers allegedly “willfully deprived Nichols of his constitutional rights.”
Tyre Nichols.facebook
While count one alleges that the assault resulted in the death of Nichols, count two alleges that “all five defendants violated Nichols’ right to be free from a law enforcement officer’s deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs.”
From left, former officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills, Jr. and Justin Smith. MEMPHIS POLICE DEPARTMENT.Memphis Police Department (4)
According to the release, counts one and two carry a maximum penalty of life in prison. Counts three and four each carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
“Officers who violate the civil rights of those they are sworn to protect undermine public safety, which depends on the community’s trust in law enforcement," said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in a statement included with the announcement. “They dishonor their fellow officers who do their work with integrity every day. The Justice Department will continue to hold accountable officers who betray their oath.”
Blake Ballin, a defense attorney for Mills,told CNNfollowing the charges, that “this is going to cause us to change gears a little bit. This adds another layer of things that we’ll have to look into and investigate.”
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.According to the outlet, he added in another statement: “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.”
It is not clear who is representing Bean, Haley, Martin III or Smith at this time.
Nichols' family attorneys Ben Crump and Antonio Romanuccisaid in a statementfollowing the announcement that “the news today from the United States Justice Department that there will be criminal accountability on the federal level for Tyre’s death gives his family hope as they continue to grieve his loss and inspire change in his honor.”
source: people.com
