Rev. Jesse Jackson calls for feds to investigate MPD after death of Tyre Nichols

Longtime civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson called for a federal investigation into the Memphis Police Department in the wake of five officers being fired for their involvement in a traffic stop that precipitated Tyre Nichols' death.

In an interview Wednesday with The Commercial Appeal, Jackson and Bishop Tavis Grant said a thorough investigation would help create stronger policies to restore community trust.

"There must be a thorough review of the entire police department. Individuals that are in these police departments that enforce this culture and environment to exist must be exposed," said Grant, the acting executive director of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, which was founded by Jackson. "These investigations must eradicate and expose this culture of violence. These officers are not lone wolves, they are part of a culture that, seemingly is in the fire department as well — and other departments in the city. It must be exposed and eradicated."

The call for further investigations comes on the heels of two investigations into the incident, one by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the other, an investigation by the FBI in Memphis.

Nichols was pulled over in a traffic stop by MPD officers in the late evening hours of Jan. 7. In the department's initial statement, officers said a "confrontation" occurred and Nichols ran. After a foot chase, officers said Nichols was detained and then "complained of a shortness of breath."

He was taken to St. Francis Hospital in critical condition and died three days later.

The narrative from MPD could not be independently confirmed as footage from the incident has not been publicly released, but attorneys for Nichols' family — who have seen the video — have called the video "appalling," with Antonio Romanucci calling it an "unadulterated...beating of [Nichols] for three minutes."

Five police officers were fired after the completion of an internal investigation.

All five of the officers were Black men, and Jackson said the actions of the officers flies in the face of his work to integrate police departments and said the incident is an insult to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"This is akin to spitting in Dr. King's face," Jackson said. "It's disrespectful and degrading."

In a Wednesday morning press conference, Kevin G. Ritz, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, urged for patience in their investigation — which he said was going to be a "thorough" and "methodical" one — along with requesting that all protesting be done "in a peaceful and non-violent way."

Jackson and Grant, although expressing frustration over Nichols' death, echoed those calls for peaceful protests — with Jackson calling for no violent actions to be taken against the families of the five officers.

"It is the responsible thing to protest and demonstrate, but we must do it with restraint and responsibility," Grant said. "The civil rights movement has been very proactive, with its obligation to build up and not tear down."

Micaela Watts contributed to this report.

Lucas Finton is a news reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.