MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Western District of Tennessee’s U.S. Attorney office is launching the National Security and Civil Rights Unit to help cut down hate crimes in West Tennessee.
The new federally organized unit will appoint permanent positions for attorneys and prosecutors to respond to handling hate crimes.
"The unit will focus on cases in the area of civil rights enforcement, so it is important for us to vigorously enforce civil rights and hate crimes statute,” U.S. Attorney Ritz said.
The latest FBI data shows more than 6,000 hate crimes were reported in 2021. 4,491 of those were race or ethnicity related, 1,013 were against religious groups or people and another 1,121 were related to a person’s sexual orientation.
U.S. Attorney Ritz did not say which organizations federal officials would be working with, but the local NAACP chapter has partnered with them in the past to tackle voting rights issues. The NAACP expects it will keep doing the same thing when it comes to hate crimes and hate groups.
“I think we should all be concerned when The Proud Boys show up,” NAACP President Van Turner said.
The Southern Poverty Law Center map of hate organizations shows The Proud Boys is active in the Memphis area. In fact, the same map shows 33 hate and antigovernment groups across the state. The Proud Boys' own website shows members marching down Beale Street.
“We don’t need that type of organization here in town, so we have to do something about it, and I’m glad to see that something is being done about it,” Turner said.
In addition to hate crimes, the U.S. Attorney’s office will be more involved in issues involving local law enforcement.
“It does sometimes mean that in a law enforcement misconduct case that we will be reviewing body cam footage and things like that,” U.S. Attorney Ritz said.
Transparency continues to be the common message across federal agencies working in Memphis and local community leaders hoping for change.
“We know what happened with Tyre Nichols and a couple other issues that are going on in the jail," Turner said. "I think it sends a message that we’re stronger when we’re transparent."
The new unit is looking to partner with additional minority organizations to ensure it is aware of as many hate groups and hate ideologies as possible. You can contact U.S. Attorney Kevin Ritz at (901) 544-4231.
ABC24 reached out to the Memphis Police Department about how many hate crimes they have responded to this year and are waiting to hear back.