The Department of Justice today announced that a federal
grand jury sitting in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of
Michigan returned a six-count indictment charging former Hamtramck, Michigan,
police officer Ryan McInerney, 42, with civil rights violations, obstruction of
justice, and firearms offenses in connection with two civilian arrests on July
22, 2014. McInerney is charged with
violating two civilians’ civil rights when he assaulted them with a pistol
without justification during separate arrests on the same night. The indictment
further charges McInerney with two counts of using a firearm during and in
relation to the civil rights offenses, as well as with writing false reports to
cover up his excessive uses of force. As a result of the assaults, one of the
civilians suffered broken facial bones and lacerations requiring stitches, and
the other civilian suffered broken teeth, among other injuries.
The civil rights charges carry a statutory maximum sentence
of 10 years in prison for each offense. The obstruction charges carry a
statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for each offense. The firearms
charges carry a mandatory minimum, consecutive sentence of five to seven years
in prison for each offense.
This case is being investigated by the FBI and is being
prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Frances Lee Carlson of the Eastern
District of Michigan and Trial Attorney Risa Berkower of the Justice
Department’s Civil Rights Division.
An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct,
not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until
proven guilty.
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