In early May, Crump and his associate Tony Romanucci said that according to an autopsy report, Nichols had died following the use of blunt trauma force, thus making his death a homicide.
“A federal grand jury has indicted 5 former Memphis Police officers involved in the beating death of Tyre Nichols. They face multiple federal charges related to deprivation of rights and use of excessive force,” Crump said via X, formerly known as Twitter.
The US Department of Justice subsequently announced a four-count indictment against all five former MPD officers: Emmitt Martin III, 31; Tadarrius Bean, 24; Demetrius Haley, 30; Desmond Mills Jr., 33; and Justin Smith, 28.
FILE - This combo of images provided by the Memphis, Tenn., Police Department shows, top row from left, officers Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, and bottom row from left, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith. The five former Memphis police officers are now facing federal civil rights charges in the beating death of Tyre Nichols as they continue to fight second-degree murder charges in state courts arising from the killing. They were indicted Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023, in U.S. District Court in Memphis.
© AP Photo / Memphis Police Department
The Justice Department said in a release that the five officers are alleged to have willfully deprived Nichols of his constitutional rights.
The first count of the indictment alleges the defendants violated Nichols’ right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer by assaulting him and by failing to intervene in the unlawful assault, which allegedly resulted in Nichols' death, the release said.
The second criminal charge alleges the former police officers violated Nichols’ right to be free from a law enforcement officer’s deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs. The third charge alleges all five defendants conspired to cover up their use of unlawful force by leaving out material information and by providing false and misleading information to their supervisor and to others, according to the release.
The fourth criminal alleges that the defendants committed an obstruction offense by intentionally omitting material information, and providing false and misleading information, to two MPD officers tasked with writing police reports about Nichols's arrest.
All five defendants face 20 years to life in prison.