Tire Nichols memorial service: renewed calls for reform

At the memorial service for the African American Tire Nichols and other black victims of police violence in the United States, there was once again a call for reform of policing in the country.

Al Sharpton, the preacher and politician, is furious at the death of Tire Nichols. And he is particularly angry at the black police officers who beat the young man to death, also black, in Memphis, Tennessee of all places, where civil rights activist Martin Luther King was shot dead almost 55 years ago.

“People had to take to the streets and go to jail and some lost their lives opening the doors for you!” Sharpton said directly to the police officers in his acclaimed half-sermon, half-protest speech: “I know not when, I don’t know how, but we won’t stop until we hold you accountable and change the system!”

Harris pushes police reform bill

For several hours, pastors, family members, friends and families of other victims in Memphis celebrated a service honoring Tire Nichols, who died on January 10 at the age of 29, and honoring all other victims, such as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor who died in police violence in 2020. “Justice for Tyre” demanded Rodney Wells, his father. Justice for all families who have lost loved ones to brutality, by the police or anyone.

Kamala Harris, the vice-president, had been invited by her parents and was enthusiastically celebrated, as TV images showed. “When we talk about public safety, let’s understand what that means in the truest sense. Tire Nichols should have been safe,” Harris said, urging Congress to pass a policing reform bill that President Biden introduced would have.

Among other things, it regulates that police officers must wear cameras on their bodies, that a database is created to record police misconduct and that police officers are no longer allowed to storm apartments without knocking. Tire’s mother, RowVaughn Wells, joined the call. The blood of the next dead child sticks to her hands, she said to the politicians who are blocking the law.

Police officers charged with manslaughter

Tire Nichols was stopped in his car by police in Memphis on January 7, allegedly for speeding. During the arrest, the police officers hit him so hard with a baton, among other things, that he died three days later.

Five police officers, also all African American, have since been fired and are now facing manslaughter charges, and two others have been dismissed from duty. The fire department also suspended two paramedics and a driver. They are accused of not immediately taking care of the seriously injured.