Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke Delivers Remarks on the Indictments in Connection with the Death of Tyre Nichols

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery

Thank you, U.S. Attorney Ritz. Good afternoon. I am Kristen Clarke, and I lead the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice. 

The Justice Department has brought federal civil rights criminal charges against five former Memphis Police Department Detectives involved in the tragic death of Tyre Nichols. The charges allege that five former Scorpion Team detectives used excessive force resulting in the death of Nichols, that they aided and abetted each other in using that excessive force and that they failed to intervene to stop the excessive force.  We also allege that after they used excessive force on Mr. Nichols, the detectives failed to render medical aid or to advise the dispatcher and emergency medical personnel of Mr. Nichols’ serious medical needs – even as his condition deteriorated and he became unresponsive. As time passed at the arrest scene, the defendants discussed striking Nichols, hitting him with straight haymakers and taking turns hitting him – information they failed to tell EMTs and paramedics. And we charge all five detectives with conspiring to and taking overt action to cover-up their misconduct.

As Americans, our Constitution gives us certain basic rights when we interact with law enforcement officers. We have a right to be free from unreasonable force, a right to have other officers intervene to stop the unlawful assault and a right, when in police custody, to have urgent medical needs addressed appropriately and not met with deliberate indifference.   

These rights define a standard of conduct that police officers must meet – a standard that we enforce across the country at the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. Enforcing that standard is one of our highest priorities, for two reasons: First, our obligation to protect people’s constitutional rights. Second, our mission to ensure effective policing in our communities.

Effective policing requires public trust. We all know that police officers have challenging jobs and that most officers carry out their jobs with honesty, dedication and integrity. But when some officers violate the Constitution, when they use excessive force, when they ignore serious injuries inflicted on people they arrest, their actions erode the public’s trust. At the Civil Rights Division, one of our highest priorities is to ensure law enforcement accountability and to preserve and restore the public’s faith in law enforcement.

The statistics speak for themselves – since January 2021, the Justice Department has bought more than 100 prosecutions involving violations of constitutional and legal rights by law enforcement officials. In that same period, we obtained more than 86 convictions. We will never stop working to fulfill our duty to protect Americans from unlawful acts of police violence. We will work to hold offenders accountable because no one is above the law in our country.

I pledge to you – as Attorney General Garland often says – that we will follow the facts and the law, and we will seek to ensure that our system of justice lives up to its name.

Note that the charges announced today are separate from the Justice Department’s civil pattern or practice investigation into the Memphis Police Department opened this past July. The charges announced today are criminal, while the pattern or practice investigation is a civil investigation that will be conducted separately and independently from the criminal case.

Earlier today, I sat down with Tyre Nichols’ mother and father to convey my sympathy for their loss. I extend my deepest condolences to Tyre’s family and to all those who knew and loved him. It is tragic to see a life cut short at 29, with so many milestones unmet, so many words unsaid, so much potential unfulfilled. Tyre Nichols should be alive today.

No one in this country should have to bury a loved one because of police violence. The Justice Department will never stop working to fulfill our duty to protect the American people from excessive and unlawful use of force by officials acting under color of law.

Since this tragic incident occurred, federal prosecutors from the Civil Rights Division have been working alongside U.S. Attorney Ritz and prosecutors from his office, as well as FBI agents here in Memphis. I want to thank this team for working so hard in investigating this case and guiding it through our system of justice. I’ll note that the defendants are presumed innocent under our law, and now the federal criminal process will begin. 

I now turn the podium back to U.S. Attorney Ritz who will describe the indictment in further detail. Thank you.