Holly McCall, Tennessee Lookout

'Attempting to erase truth': Trump's DOJ just retracted a 2024 report focusing on bad cops

The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division announced Wednesday it will close its investigation into the Memphis Police Department and retract a December 2024 report addressing constitutional violations by police.

The DOJ found police in Memphis used excessive force, engaged in unlawful traffic stops and routinely discriminated against Black residents after a 2023 investigation spurred by the death of 23-year-old Tyre Nichols when he was beaten by police officers during a traffic stop.

In addition to ending the Memphis case, the DOJ said in a press release it will close investigations into local law enforcement agencies in Phoenix; Oklahoma City; Trenton, New Jersey; Mt. Vernon, New York; and into the Louisiana State Police.

The agency also will dismiss lawsuits against the Minneapolis and Louisville police departments, accusing the Biden administration — which filed the suits — of using flawed data to impose orders on the two departments to stop discrimination.

Department of Justice opens civil rights probe of Memphis after Tyre Nichols death case

“Today, we are ending the Biden Civil Rights Division’s failed experiment of handcuffing local leaders and police departments with factually unjustified consent decrees,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Louisville police came under investigation after the shooting death of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor, who was in her apartment with her boyfriend when seven officers forced entry as part of a search for drugs. An investigation following the incident found the police had targeted the wrong apartment.

The DOJ opened an investigation into police in Minnesota when a bystander’s video showed officer Derek Chauvin applying a chokehold to George Floyd — who was Black — in May 2020, killing Floyd. Chauvin was convicted of second- and third-degree murder and manslaughter.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represented the families of Nichols, Taylor and Floyd, called the move by the federal agency a “slap in the face” to the families.

“By walking away from consent decrees in Minneapolis and Louisville, and closing its investigation into the Memphis Police Department while retracting findings of serious constitutional violations, the DOJ is not just rolling back reform, it is attempting to erase truth and contradicting the very principles for which justice stands,” Crump said in a statement.

“These consent decrees and investigations were not symbolic gestures, they were lifelines for communities crying out for change, rooted in years of organizing, suffering, and advocacy,” said Crump.

Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com.

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Tennessee’s special legislative elections features a huge upset in Nashville

Three state representatives, including Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones, were returned to their seats in Thursday’s special legislative elections while another election represented a shakeup.

Democrats Pearson and Jones both won reelection handily, Pearson beating independent candidate Jeff Johnston in Shelby County’s District 86 with 94% of the vote. In Nashville’s District 52, Jones won with 78% of the votes cast, defeating Republican Laura Nelson.

Voters in East Tennessee’s District 3 returned Rep. Matthew Hill to the General Assembly. Hill, who served in the legislature from 2012-2020, was appointed to fill the seat by the Johnson County Commission in May after former Rep. Scotty Campbell resigned in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal. Democratic leaders predicted low turnout could help former labor leader Lori Love but Hill won with an overwhelming 75% of the votes cast.

Rep. Justin Pearson, photographed in the Cordell Hull Legislative Building in 2022 while speaking out on environmental issues in Memphis. (Photo: John Partipilo)

The race for House District 3, left vacant by the death of former Rep. Bill Beck in June, departed from conventional wisdom as progressive activist Aftyn Behn defeated businessman and former Metro Nashville Councilmember Anthony Davis in the Democratic primary.

Davis was appointed by Metro Council in June. A popular progressive during his time in office, he was endorsed in his bid by 25 members of the Metro Council and eight members of the Davidson County legislative delegation.

Davis out-fundraised Behn, taking in $77,047 to Behn’s $49,156.

But the appointment of Davis enraged progressives who said Metro Council should have refrained from appointing Davis given the short time frame between the appointment and the Thursday special election, and painted Davis as too conservative for the district.

Behn has campaigned in part on her relationship with Pearson, Jones and Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-Nashville — who got the nickname the “Tennessee Three” after they were brought up in the House on expulsion charges — and said she would support them if elected.

Pearson and Jones were expelled by their Republican colleagues in April for taking a bullhorn onto the House floor to rally protesters calling for gun safety legislation just days after a shooter killed six people at Nashville Covenant School. Johnson missed expulsion by one vote.

Within a week of the expulsion, both Pearson and Jones were reappointed to their seats by their respective county commissions. Costs for the elections in House Districts 3, 52 and 86 alone are estimated to cost taxpayers about $570,000.

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Tennessee Lookout is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Tennessee Lookout maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Holly McCall for questions: info@tennesseelookout.com. Follow Tennessee Lookout on Facebook and Twitter.

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Tennessee’s special legislative elections features a huge upset in Nashville

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