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New US attorney reflects on career, life in Indy

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Zachary Myers might have the best office in Indianapolis. It’s a corner room near Monument Circle that isn’t particularly large but overlooks the city from a height that puts him at eye level with the Soldiers and Sailors Monument 284 feet off the ground.

Myers is the new U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. He was sworn in in November 2021. Prior to that, Myers was an assistant U.S. attorney in the district from 2011-2014.

“I think I was in this office two or three times,” he said of his time as an assistant attorney, “and every time it’s like, oh my goodness, the U.S. attorney’s office, the view — it is a pretty great place.”

Zachary Myers (Photo provided by U.S. Attorney’s Office of Southern District of Indiana)

But there’s another view Myers thinks about. It doesn’t come from his office, but rather on his way to it in the hallway, where there are framed photos of all of the people who served before him. It plainly shows Myers is the first Black attorney to lead the state’s Southern District.

“In some ways, it’s like a subtle reminder of maybe it was not envisioned that someone of my background would be in this role,” he said of the wall.

‘Am I making these problems better?’

The world sees Myers’ black skin before it sees his law degree from Georgetown University or his decade as a federal prosecutor. He knows that.

Does it ever feel like there’s a tug of war between the profession and his identity as a Black man?

“I don’t think anyone who’s being honest with you could say no to that question,” Myers said.

Even if the vast majority of law enforcement do the right thing, Myers said he knows it only takes one person to cross the line and violate whatever trust was there.

“You can’t be in law enforcement, particularly a Black man in law enforcement, in the decade that I’ve been here and not see the problems,” he said.

Between his time in Indiana as an assistant attorney and now, Myers worked in the attorney’s office in the District of Maryland. He saw firsthand the fallout in Baltimore after police killed Freddie Gray in 2015.

Five years later, Myers watched from his living room the video of police killing George Floyd in Minneapolis.

He remembers thinking: “Is there a place for me in criminal justice? Am I doing the right things? Am I making these problems better?”

The U.S. Department of Justice didn’t bring federal charges against six Baltimore police officers involved in Gray’s death, but three Minneapolis officers involved in Floyd’s death were found guilty of federal civil rights crimes. The latter case helped reassure Myers.

‘We’re gonna fight violent crime by prosecuting violent crime’

One of the challenges of leading a district the size of Indiana’s Southern District is Myers’ office has to be very selective about what cases it goes after. The district, which includes the southern two-third of the state, covers 4.2 million people. Myers has 42 assistant attorneys, making the district tied for last in terms of resources by population, he said.

It’s not like Myers can just go out and hire new attorneys. The Department of Justice controls the budget and staffing.

Given the limited resources, Myers’ focus is on driving down violent crime, particularly when there is a gun involved.

He said his approach is simple: “We’re gonna fight violent crime by prosecuting violent crime.”

That means working with local prosecutors, including Ryan Mears in Marion County, to consider the seriousness and nature of offenses, the history of the offender and other factors to determine which office is best suited to go after the case.

‘It’s always been home’

Myers spent much of his childhood in Indianapolis. He grew up in Pike Township and went to Park Tudor School, where he played football and wrestled.

Myers’ family lived for a year in New York and later moved to the Detroit area for most of his high school years, but his family roots — and professional roots — are in Indianapolis.

“Even when I wasn’t living here, it’s always been home,” he said.

Myers’ early interest in law was in part thanks to football. He counts among the first true Indianapolis Colts fans, having been a child when the team relocated from Baltimore in the 1980s. But before football came on the TV on Sundays, he watched the news.

“I would sit as a much younger kid than most and watch ‘Meet the Press’ with my family and watch the news and talk about what’s going on,” Myers said.

Alan Mills has known Myers for most of his life. You can’t ever be sure how someone will turn out, said Mills, an attorney at Barnes & Thornburg, but he called Myers a “precocious and brilliant” child. “Always had a curious mind about the world and how people interact in it.”

Myers kept doing things people who don’t know him probably wouldn’t expect — aside from TV viewing habits. He also used to play drums at the Slippery Noodle on blues jam nights and had a band dedicated to old-school blues.

“You will not find us on Spotify,” he said laughing.

Pamela Grant-Taylor, a public defender in Marion County, has known Myers since 2011, when he was vice president of the Marion County Bar Association and she was the secretary.

Grant-Taylor wrote a letter in support of his nomination for district attorney.

“The best thing about Zach is what you see is what you get,” she said. “There’s no airs about him. He’s not super stuffy. He’s very down to earth. He’s extremely personable.”

Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853 or email at tylerf@indyrecorder.com. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.

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