U.S. Attorney Kevin Ritz recently announced the creation of a National Security and Civil Rights Unit within the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee.
I’m excited about this announcement for many reasons. One key piece of info: we are hiring Assistant U.S. Attorneys, for both Memphis and Jackson. Check the link in the release for more details. Deadline to apply is July 16. https://t.co/G5szZX6dR0
— U.S. Attorney Kevin G. Ritz (@USAttyRitz) July 10, 2023
As part of the unit, a supervisory attorney and several prosecutors will be “permanently positioned to respond to and prevent hate crimes and civil rights violations, as well as threats to national security,” according to Ritz’s office.
Ritz (pictured above) appointed Assistant United States Attorney Karen Hartridge to lead the unit as deputy criminal chief, where he will “oversee a team of federal prosecutors on cases involving bias-related incidents, official misconduct, domestic terrorism, interstate threats, cybercrime (including exploitation of children), and other related violations of federal law.”
The new unit in the Western District of Tennessee prioritizes cases consistent with Attorney General Merrick Garland’s May 27, 2021, memorandum to U.S. Attorneys to combat and address hate crimes and incidents.
Law enforcement agencies across the country reported more than 8,000 hate crimes to the FBI in 2020, but nearly 11,000 the following year, according to US Department of Justice (DOJ) data released earlier this year.
“None of us can afford for federal investigators and prosecutors to take a passive role when it comes to protecting the rights guaranteed by the Constitution,” Ritz said in a statement. “We have a responsibility to our communities to be active participants in seeing those rights endure. This new unit mobilizes every tool at our disposal to prosecute hate-based crimes, civil rights violations, violent extremism, and related crimes. This is a major part of our mission and deserves to always have a clear, formal home in our office.”
Ritz and Hartridge plan to grow the newly-formed unit by recruiting multiple new Assistant United States Attorneys by the end of the summer. Attorneys interested in applying for a role within the unit must apply by July 16.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
