On February 3, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears spoke at the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Indianapolis, stating that:
We need to make sure we’re all on the same page about what the expectation of the police department is, what the expectation of the prosecutor’s office is, so that we have not only the moral authority but the community support to do what we think is right under the circumstances, which means we could be prosecuting federal officials.
Is the enemy of our enemy our friend? As Marion County Prosecutor, Ryan Mears has the authority to uphold the law against corruption, deceit, and violence at the hands of federal and local officials and police. There has been no shortage of opportunities to protect the public from such injustices. If we look back even one year ago, it is blatant that what the community can expect of the police department and the prosecutor’s office is far from moral superiority.
HARDLY HEROIC: Mears’ recent history of inaction
On February 25, 2025, IMPD officer Grant Snyder shot and killed Adam Sykes after Sykes stopped an attack on a woman. The murder of Adam Sykes was not the first “use of force” from Snyder, nor has it been the last since his death.
On June 15, 2025, multiple IMPD officers violently assaulted Devin Hunt and later released a statement that falsified the series of events to try and prosecute Hunt for their brutality. At the time of publishing this statement, Mears has yet to file charges against Snyder or the cops involved in assaulting Hunt.
Further back, in August 2023, Gary Harrell was shot in the back by IMPD officer Douglas Correll, who has a history of attacking Black men. The family went to Mears’s office to meet with him about the process he needs to follow in order to file charges. Mears turned his back on the family and concerned community members by locking the door to his office and releasing this statement:
The biggest thing for us… we have to work within the parameters of the criminal justice system. We have to make sure [we] are following the law. We also want to make sure we get it right. This idea that things will happen overnight is not consistent with what we know about the criminal justice process or the criminal justice system.
Nearly 3 years later, Gary’s family and the people of Indianapolis continue to wait for “the parameters of the criminal justice system” to apply to killer cops.
Ryan Mears is not even willing to challenge the Indianapolis Police and hold them accountable for murdering people in our streets. Why would it be different for federal officers?
Mears would like the public to believe that the police are ready and willing to challenge the State to protect the People. In reality, what Indianapolis residents can expect of the police department and the prosecutor’s office is more of the same. They will come to protests, but to threaten to arrest protesters. They will be in the streets, but to harass Black and unhoused people. The Prosecutor’s Office shields violent cops from accountability, which is made clear when Mears files bogus charges against their victims–like Jada Trainor.
Mears cowers, cops brutalize, the people protect
The police in Indianapolis serve the same function as federal police: to intimidate us and quell dissent. If the police wanted to help the people of Indianapolis, they would join us in protest, demanding no business as usual. But they are the armed enforcers of the existing social order, just like ICE. Nothing poses a greater threat to capitalism than working class organization and mobilization.
Police brutality is one of the sharpest and most widely recognizable reminders that we live in a society dominated by an oppressing class. Despite most cops being a part of the working class, they choose to be class traitors against us. A united movement of working class people that leads to the defeat of the ruling class also means a defeat of the hands that feed the police. With a majority of the city-county council budget, the greatest asset to public safety that the police could contribute at this time would be its own defunding.
Following Mayor Hogsett’s lukewarm acknowledgement that “people are afraid” in Indianapolis over ICE, this false stronghold that Ryan Mears is claiming against federal officials only makes it more clear that city officials find the threat of ICE in our streets as a chance to cower or posture to the public. The authority granted to city officials and police does nothing to guarantee our safety. It’ll be our networks, our organized demands, and our mass actions that force ICE out of our streets and secure justice for victims of IMPD.
Featured photo: Ryan Mears posing for a photo shoot. Photo credit: in.gov.