Nine correctional officers at the Shelby County Jail have been indicted on charges relating to the in-custody death of Gershun Freeman last year.
The announcement came at a brief press conference Wednesday where Sheriff Floyd Bonner, who is also a candidate in the local mayoral race, called the charges politically motivated. He said Freeman’s death was tragic but that it was not the fault of the correctional officers.
“I want this community to know that I stand with these officers,” he said. “I believe that if I were not running for another office, these indictments never would have happened.”
The Sheriff’s Office runs the jail facility, commonly referred to as 201 Poplar. Bonner did not name the correctional officers or the individual charges they face.
The decision whether to bring criminal charges was left up to Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk after Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy recused himself from the case earlier this year.
A spokesperson for Funk’s office said they would not comment on a pending case.
In March, the Nashville District Attorney's Office released edited video footage from inside the jail that showed a chaotic scene leading up to Freeman’s death on Oct. 5.
Correctional officers chased Freeman for several minutes throughout different locations of the jail after he sprung from his jail cell naked swatting at workers who were delivering food.
Throughout the video, there are multiple confrontations with staffers who kick and punch Freeman and use a chemical agent as they try to subdue him. Eventually, a smaller group restrains him face down on the ground. At least one officer appears to apply pressure to Freeman’s back with his knee. Freeman appears unresponsive when officers try to lift him several minutes later.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the state’s autopsy report. It says Freeman received CPR after going into cardiac arrest and lists the cause of death as an exacerbation of cardiovascular disease “due to physical altercation and subdual.”
A probable psychotic disorder is identified as a contributing factor. The death is ruled a homicide for classification purposes, but the autopsy notes that does not “definitively indicate criminal intent.”
Lawyers for Freeman's family had previously called for criminal charges against the jailers shown on video. They said he was on suicide watch and experiencing a mental health crisis at the time of his death.
Freeman was being held on charges of assaulting and kidnapping his girlfriend.
Bonner had previously criticized the video’s release saying the edited version did not show the “erratic and violent behavior that led to the need to restrain Mr. Freeman.”
On Wednesday, Bonner doubled down on his criticism of Funk’s handling of the case, noting that Funk’s office is undergoing its own investigation under the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
In a statement, Mulroy said he had requested an outside, independent prosecutor take his place to avoid any perceptions of political influence, which he said is “not at all unusual.”
“The [Tennessee District Attorneys General] Conference, not me, appointed Glenn Funk,” he said. “I've had no involvement at all in the case since last year, and played no role in the decision to indict.”
He said he supported the release of the video “in the name of transparency.”
This post has been updated with a response from District Attorney Glenn Funk's office.
The indictments for the correctional officers were released publicly on Thursday.
