Five former Memphis police officers accused of brutally beating Tyre Nichols have been indicted on federal criminal charges in connection with Mr. Nichols’s death in January, the Justice Department announced on Tuesday.
The four charges, handed up by a grand jury in the Federal District Court in Memphis, accuse each of the five men of various civil rights, conspiracy and obstruction offenses.
They face two counts of deprivation of rights under color of law, as the grand jury found that the former officers had unlawfully assaulted Mr. Nichols and refused to intervene, and had failed to provide medical aid or tell medical responders about his injuries. The indictment says that the two offenses led to Mr. Nichols’s severe injuries and death.
If convicted, the men could face up to life in prison on those two counts alone. The remaining two counts — both related to witness tampering and obstruction — are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
“The country watched in horror as Mr. Nichols was kicked, punched, tased and pepper sprayed,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a video statement announcing the charges. “We all heard Mr. Nichols cry out for his mother and say, ‘I’m just trying to go home.’” He added, “The Justice Department will continue to hold accountable officers who betray their oath.”
The former officers — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith — have already pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and other charges at the state level. Police body camera and surveillance video captured them kicking and bludgeoning Mr. Nichols on Jan. 7 after a routine traffic stop. Mr. Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, died a few days later. The five former officers are also Black.
The graphic footage prompted a national outcry and closer scrutiny of the tactics of the Memphis Police Department, as well as the specialized Scorpion unit that the five men belonged to. It roiled the city, leading to a series of administrative punishments and firings within the Police and Fire Departments.
The five men have since been fired and barred from working in law enforcement in Tennessee. Mr. Nichols’s family has also filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the former officers, the Police Department and the City of Memphis.
“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,” said Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, lawyers for Mr. Nichols’s family.
In a statement, Blake Ballin, a lawyer for Mr. Mills, said the former officer “maintains his innocence.” William Massey, a lawyer for Mr. Martin, said his client would plead not guilty, and would continue to seek the release of additional footage from the night of Jan. 7, including videos that show what led to the initial stop.
Lawyers for the other three men did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A court document filed on Tuesday outlining the federal charges said that the five men intentionally omitted details about the incident or shared misleading information with two officers tasked with writing an incident report, as a way of hiding the violence inflicted on Mr. Nichols.
It also cites conversations in which the men talked about taking turns repeatedly hitting Mr. Nichols with straight haymakers, lied about Mr. Nichols’s lack of resistance to the traffic stop and beating, and discussed a concerted effort to limit the use of their body cameras.
The federal indictment comes two months after the Justice Department announced a sprawling civil rights investigation into the practices of the Memphis Police Department, after additional reports of excessive force emerged in the wake of Mr. Nichols’s death.