Killing of Jocques Clemmons

Jocques Clemmons, 31, was fatally shot by Metropolitan Nashville Police Department officer Joshua Lippert, 32, on February 10, 2017, in the parking lot of the James A. Cayce Homes, a housing project in East Nashville, Tennessee. Lippert, in an unmarked car, saw Clemmons run a stop sign in a gray SUV. After Clemmons parked and got out of the vehicle, an altercation occurred; Clemmons was carrying a loaded Ruger .357 Magnum, which fell to the ground. Lippert attempted to keep Clemmons from the weapon, but Clemmons picked it up and ran between parked vehicles. Lippert shot Clemmons once in the abdomen, once in the hip, and twice in the back as Clemmons tried to flee. Officers performed first aid, and Clemmons was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where he died during surgery.

Both the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) opened investigations, and friction arose between the two agencies over duplicated witness interviews. The MNPD initially stated there had been two altercations between Clemmons and Lippert, but video footage later showed only one. On May 11, 2017, the MNPD released an internal Office of Professional Accountability report concluding Lippert believed he was in "imminent danger" and acted in self-defense. The same day, Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk announced he would not prosecute Lippert, also concluding the officer acted in self-defense. Deputy District Attorney General Amy Hunter suggested during the announcement that the police report may have been biased in Lippert's favor, noting it had labeled the shooting a "justifiable homicide" within five hours. Nashville Mayor Megan Barry and TBI Director Mark Gwyn both supported Funk's decision.

The decision drew immediate criticism from the NAACP, the ACLU of Tennessee, and Black Lives Matter's Nashville chapter, as well as from Clemmons's family, who held a press conference calling for Lippert's dismissal. Protesters, organized partly under the "Justice for Jocques Coalition," staged demonstrations, including a May 12, 2017 march to Mayor Barry's residence carrying a coffin, and a town hall meeting on May 20, 2017, which city officials did not attend. Members of the Metropolitan Council's Minority Caucus said the incident reflected how Nashville treated its Black residents and elected officials.

A dispute also emerged between MNPD Chief Steve Anderson and DA's office officials over characterizations of the police report, playing out in public letters in May 2017. Court intervention led to the redacted TBI report being made public via the DA's website from June 9 to July 10, 2017. Investigators determined Clemmons's gun had been reported stolen in 2001 and later sold at a gun show, but fingerprints could not be retrieved from it.

In August 2017, the United States Attorney's Office in Nashville, the FBI, and the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division reviewed the state and local investigations and closed the case without federal charges, a decision welcomed by the Fraternal Order of Police. Protests and calls for Lippert's dismissal continued into 2018, including a rally and a February 10, 2018 memorial ceremony for Clemmons. An ethics complaint was also filed in February 2018 alleging Mayor Barry's personal relationship with an MNPD sergeant may have influenced her response to the case; Barry denied this.