Today you will hear from DA Mulroy along
with the director of TBI, David Rouse.
And so I want to just make it very clear
and ask for your understanding that
this is still an ongoing investigation.
And so for that reason there are
limits to some of the things and some
of the questions that we can answer.
So we ask for your understanding
as it relates to that.
And I will turn it over to DA
Mulroy and did I mention that
we will take questions after,
but they will we we have a
really limited amount of time.
So thank you.
Thank you, Erica.
Good afternoon, everybody.
Thank you for coming.
I'm joined today,
as Miss Williams has already said,
with the director of the Tennessee
Bureau of Investigation, David Roush,
as well as assistant director Josh Melton.
I'm also joined with by other members
of my staff including Ernest Brooks,
Ray Lepone, Gerald Scan,
but then also most relevant for today,
the trial team in the Tyree Nichols case,
including Paul Hagerman and Tanisha Johnson.
Another member of the trial team,
Melanie Headley, is unavailable.
We're here today because of a
tragedy that wounds one family
deeply but also hurts us all.
The death of Tyrene Nichols.
We understand.
It acknowledged the grief that
the friends and family of Tyree
Nichols are experiencing right now,
as well as the great concern throughout all
of Memphis and Shelby County about this case.
We met several times this week
with the family of Tyrone Nichols.
They described an almost perfect son,
a cheerful and happy person
who enjoyed skateboarding and
sunsets over Shelby Farms Park.
We're grateful to the family of
Tyrone Nichols for their patience as
we expedited both the investigation.
And the consideration of charges
in this case,
as well as the understanding
on the part of the family that
premature release of the video.
Could compromise both.
And we did work quickly to expedite
this investigation because of the
extraordinary nature of the case
compared to the average investigation and
prosecution decisions in a case like this.
We worked swiftly,
but also fairly and most importantly,
in a way calculated to ensure
that we have a strong case.
As you might have heard from Miss Williams,
in this case and any other
officer involved fatality case,
I immediately called in the TBI so that we
could have an independent investigation.
I also assigned to the newly created
Justice Review unit within my office,
which works independently and
separately both from law enforcement
and the rest of my staff,
to make a truly objective
recommendation about whether
criminal charges were appropriate.
I want to thank the TBI.
The Justice Review Unit and the trial
team for working swiftly but thoroughly.
Under very difficult conditions.
Earlier today, the grand jury returned
indictments against five former
Memphis Police Department officers
regarding the death of Tyree Nichols.
These are the same five officers who
were previously or recently terminated
by the Memphis Police Department.
They are currently in custody. They are.
Tadarius Bean demitrius Haley.
Emmett Martin, the third,
Desmond Mills Junior and Justin Smith.
The grand jury returned indictments
against all five with the same
charges and we had previously met
with the family of Tyrone Nichols
to go over what these charges were
going to be and that meeting with
the family I think went rather well.
Here are the charges, second degree murder.
Aggravated assault.
Aggravating kidnapping resulting
in bodily injury.
Aggravated kidnapping involving
the possession of a weapon.
Official misconduct through
unauthorized exercise of power.
Official misconduct through failure to
act when there is a duty imposed by law.
And official oppression.
While each of the five individuals
played a different role in
the incident in question,
the actions of all of them resulted
in the death of Tyrone Nichols
and they are all responsible.
It's important to note,
as Miss Williams said,
that this is still an ongoing investigation
and therefore there are limits on
what we can say about this case.
We ask for everyone's continued
patience as we continue to vigorously
seek justice in this case.
We also know that the public is very
concerned about whether they can see
the video about this incident and
the timing of the release of this,
the video of these of this incident.
I have been in regular contact
with the City of Memphis,
the custodian of that record,
and I can tell you that the city
will be releasing the video.
Sometime after 6:00 PM Friday tomorrow,
and that the city of Memphis should
be making a statement somewhat
later on this afternoon regarding
the timing of that release.
Let me close by saying both to
the family of Tyrone Nichols and
to the broader community here
in Memphis and Shelby County,
we all want the same thing.
We want justice for Tyree Nichols.
It's my hope that if there is any.
Silver lining to be drawn
from this very dark cloud?
It's that perhaps this incident
can open a broader conversation
about the need for police reform.
The world is watching us,
and we need to show the world what
lessons we can learn from this tragedy.
I'm hopeful that we can show
them who I know us to be.
A community working towards positive
change here in Memphis and Shelby County.
With that, let me ask Director
Roush to step forward.
Thank you, Diane.
Melbourne Moran. Good afternoon.
I'm David Roush, director of the
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
First and foremost,
and most importantly,
on behalf of the Tennessee
Bureau of Investigation,
I want to extend my deepest condolences
to the family and friends of Tyree Nichols.
My prayer is that God will
wrap his comforting arms
around you and keep you during
this very difficult time.
We can't imagine the pain you're
experiencing, but let me reaffirm.
We are here.
To to pursue truth and justice.
Realizing that we should not be here.
Simply put, this shouldn't have happened.
I've been policing for more than 30 years.
I've devoted my life to this profession.
And I'm grieved.
Frankly, I'm I'm shocked.
I'm sickened by what I saw.
And what we've learned through our
extensive and thorough investigation.
I've seen the video.
And as DA Mulroy stated,
you will too.
In a word,
it's absolutely appalling.
Let me be clear.
What happened here does not at
all reflect proper policing.
This was wrong. This was criminal.
The depth and breadth of the charges
announced today speaks to the
deliberate and thorough investigation
that this case has received,
and our work is not finished.
We continue to pursue every lead.
Justice demands it,
and our agency exists so that guilt
shall not escape nor innocence suffer.
To that end,
I want to publicly thank our agents,
our forensic scientists,
our support staff,
and our entire team around this state.
They worked diligently to expedite this case.
We've worked as hard as we could and as
quickly as we could to provide a thorough,
independent, unbiased investigative record.
To allow the Amole Roy and his team
to make the most informed decision
they could regarding these charges.
I also want to thank the Memphis
Police Department and the city leaders
for their cooperation in this case,
which I want to stress is ongoing
at this time. Thank you.
I'll take a few questions.
I was wondering if.
And then and Whitland,
let's make sure that one at
a time one and then two, OK?
Decisions ongoing
that include other officers that that
were alluded to in CJ Davis,
Davis addressed last night
and also could also involve the other EMT's
and personnel from the fire department.
Nothing we do today or did today
precludes the addition of any
further charges regarding any of
the people that you mentioned.
We're still actively reviewing everything.
Yes, Sir. Thank you.
We have not heard from the police
chief of generally given description
of what occurred in the initial
stop in any kind of a timeline of
what exactly occurred on that day.
So I'm hoping perhaps you were the
director there can explain to us
just give us a you know as much as
possible timeline of the events he
was stopped was this a legal stop,
why was he stopped and then sort of
continued to explain perhaps what
happened in the moments after that.
Right. I don't want to go into too
much detail and I suspect that all of
your answers along those lines will,
you know, be forthcoming once you have a
chance to view the video for yourself.
I know that it's already a lot of this
has already been publicly released,
but if there was an initial traffic stop,
we won't comment right now on the president's
or absence of the legality of the stop.
But there was a traffic stop and
there was an initial altercation
involving several officers and Mr.
Nichols pepper spray.
Was deployed the suspect,
not the suspect, Mr.
Nichols. Fled on foot.
There was another altercation at a
nearby location at which the the the
serious injuries were experienced by Mr.
Nichols.
After some period of time of waiting around.
Afterwards,
he was taken away by an ambulance.
Beyond that,
I don't really think I we should
go into any further details.
There was a delay
in a call, the police delay
calling an ambulance, for
there was a there was an
elapsed period of time.
But I believe that if you watched
the video, you'll be able to
make that judgment for yourself.
I'm trying to. I'm trying
to give everyone a chance.
President CBS News is it known
if Tyree Nichols
had previously known these former officers?
We have no information to
disclose about that at this time.
I don't know why Chief Davis
isn't here. Anything else.
You're just body camera videos and
the dash Cam video surveillance.
What? What kind of videos? Well,
the actual release will be up
to the city of Memphis by my
understanding is that it will be
a combination of pole Cam video,
Sky cop video and body Cam video.
One more question. There will be a review
of specialized units within
the Memphis Police Department.
Two questions. First, were these
officers member of the Organized Crime
Unit? And 2nd, will your office be
involved in that investigation?
Well, so I've read in the newspaper
that Chief Davis has announced a
review of those specialized units.
I think that's a good idea.
I commend Chief Davis for doing that.
I think Chief Davis is committed to,
you know, trying to do
whatever she can to learn.
Lessons from this incident,
I don't contemplate that our office
would be involved in that review.
I think that's
about 1/3 of the organized crime unit.
So I think it's already been
reported publicly that that
Scorpion unit was involved.
Thank you. Is that is that it?
OK, I'm being told. That's it.
Thank you very much.
Thank you. Thank you.
Can you please tell us to live those
aggravating charges to explain this?
Yes, Sir. Alright,
well, we just heard
from I don't think at all. Let's listen
back in. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah. So, alright, so kidnapping is any
unlawful confinement of another which
substantially restrained someone's liberty at
a certain point in the sequence of events.
It is our view that this,
if it was illegal detention to begin with,
it's certainly became illegal at a certain
point and it was an unlawful detention.
The aggravated nature of the charge
is because if that kidnapping
resulted in bodily injury.
That's one grounds for saying that
it is aggravated kidnapping if.
The persons involved in that unlawful
restraint of liberty possessed weapons.
That is another ground for saying
that the kidnapping was aggravated.
Do you want me to explain the other
charges as well, or OK, all right,
so official misconduct is when
any public official acting part
of their official duties,
intentionally or knowingly.
Acts in a way exercises authority
that is unauthorized by law, right?
So that's an affirmative statement,
an affirmative act of official
misconduct at the same time.
Law enforcement officials who are on
duty are also under an affirmative duty
to prevent official misconduct and to
accurately report information to any
medical facility personnel that show up,
and through inaction.
When there is a duty imposed by law,
that could also be a separate ground
for charging official misconduct.
Official oppression is a related statute.
It's not exactly the same.
There is some overlap,
but it's not perfect overlap.
But it is basically some sort of
buying official knowing mistreatment.
In the course of carrying out
their official duties.
Aggravated assault and I think is fairly
obvious and under the laws of Tennessee.
Second degree murder is a knowing killing.
Alright, thank you.
Your office.