Crump says arrest of 5 Black Memphis officers should be blueprint for cases involving white officers

A day after five Black Memphis police officers were arrested for their involvement in a Jan. 7 encounter with Tyre Nichols, who died three days later, civil rights attorney Ben Crump held a press conference. Crump, who represents the Nichols family, said the speed at which the officers were arrested should be a blueprint for all cases of alleged police violence, regardless of whether the officers are Black or white.

Video Transcript

BEN CRUMP: When we look at how these five Black officers who were caught on camera committing a crime, and when we look at how fast the police chief and the police department terminated them, and we look at how swiftly the district attorney brought charges against them in less than 20 days, then we want to proclaim that this is the blueprint going forward for any time, any officers, whether they be Black or white, will be held accountable.

No longer can you tell us we got to wait six months to a year, even though we got a video with evidence of the excessive force and the crime. No more can you tell us that anymore. Because with these five Black officers, you all moved it swiftly.

And as the chief said, it was important for the community that they took swift action and that justice moved swiftly against these five officers, who happen to be African-American. Well, when it's white officers, we think it's also important to the community that there is swift action and that we move swiftly to justice.