MEMPHIS, Tenn. — We have new information in the case of Tyre Nichols, the man who died a few days after a confrontation with Memphis Police officers.
A release from the US Department of Justice stated Wednesday that the United States Attorney’s Office has opened a civil rights investigation in coordination with the FBI Memphis Field Office and the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.
The City of Memphis said in a statement Wednesday afternoon they are aware of the investigation and they, along with MPD, will cooperate with federal authorities.
The announcement comes just days before we will get to see for ourselves what really happened on January 7. Mayor Jim Strickland spoke to WREG Wednesday about the city’s investigation into what happened that day.
“We’ve been very concerned about this whole situation and that’s why MPD acted immediately to do an internal investigation,” he said.
According to the Memphis Police Department, 29-year-old Nichols was taken to the hospital after he complained of shortness of breath after what they called two “confrontations” stemming from a traffic stop.
Nichols died three days later. His death prompted Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy to call in the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation for a use-of-force investigation.
The city meanwhile, according to the mayor, is looking into employment violations.
“The investigation internally about employment matters ended this past Saturday and then the investigator thought there were some violations of policy and they created a notice of violation for each officer involved and those were done Sunday,” Strickland said.
He wouldn’t comment on what those violations are or how many officers were involved. Strickland says that will be discussed at a hearing later this week, and the officers will have a chance to appeal the violations before any consequences are handed down.
According to Mayor Strickland, we could see the body camera video as early as next week, which will hopefully answer many questions about what happened to Tyre Nichols.
“Our goal right now is to have the hearing at the end of this week, meet with the family next week, show them the video, and then release the video to the public,” he said.