He was 29, loved photography, skateboarding and sunsets. Funerals by African-American Tire Nicholswhose the fatal beating by black police officers shocked the United States, took place on Wednesday in the city of Memphis in the presence of Vice President Kamala Harris and the Reverend Al Sharpton, who called for “more humanity and racial justice”.
“Didn’t he have the right to be safe?” Asked the vice-president. “Here is a family who lost their son and brother after an act of violence” perpetrated by “people responsible for protecting them”, she hammered.
“You beat a brother to death”
The Reverend Al Sharpton, a civil rights figure who gave the funeral oration at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, said he was particularly affected by the fact that the five police officers were themselves black.
“In the city where (Martin Luther) King lost his life (…), you beat a brother to death,” he said. “The video speaks for itself. The police did not ask him for his driver’s license or registration card. They pulled him out of the car and started beating him,” the Reverend continued, repeating Tyre Nichols’ words: “He just wanted to go home.”
“Why couldn’t they (the police) see the humanity of Tyre? asked attorney Ben Crump. “We have to make sure they see us as human beings worthy of respect,” he continued, promising to obtain “fair justice” for Tire Nichols.
Overdue police reform
In tears, RowVaughn Wells, mother of Tyre Nichols, called to applause for Congress to pass a police reform bill bearing the name of George Floyd, who is stalled in the Senate for now. “Because if we don’t, that blood, the next child that dies, they’ll have that blood on their hands,” she pleaded.
“This is just the beginning,” promised Tyre Nichols’ father-in-law, Rodney Wells. “We look forward to justice for all families (…), not just ours.”
Meeting Thursday at the White House
A sign of the attention given by the White House to this affair, President Joe Biden himself spoke last week with the parents of Tire Nichols to salute “their courage and their strength” a few hours before publication. of the video of his ordeal in the hands of the police.
President Biden plans to receive members of the caucus bringing together African-American lawmakers at the White House on Thursday to “discuss legislation on police reform and other shared priorities,” said Olivia Dalton, a spokeswoman for the executive.
“President Biden is determined to do everything in his power (…) to ensure that our criminal justice system lives up to the expectations of impartial justice (…) and dignity for all,” he said. -she adds.