‘We mourn with you’: Kamala Harris gives passionate speech at Tyre Nichols’ funeral
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A funeral for Tyre Nichols is underway in Memphis, more than three weeks after the 29-year-old Black man was fatally beaten by a group of police officers on 7 January. He died in hospital three days later.
Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the congregation at at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, where Rev Al Sharpton also delivered the eulogy and prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump issued a “call to action” in the wake of Nichols’s death and the police killings of Black Americans.
Rev Sharpton condemned the actions of the Black officers who are charged with Nichols’s murder, arguing that the sacrifies of civil rights leaders like Dr Martin Luther King Jr paved the way for their public service.
“People had to march and go to jail and some people lost their lives to open the doors for you. How dare you act like that sacrifice was for nothing?” he said.
City officials released the prior disciplinary records for the five officers who are now charged with murder, revealing that four of them had prior complaints against them.
‘I’m just trying to go home’: Tyre Nichols’ sister reads heartbreaking poem at funeral
‘I’m just trying to go home’: Tyre Nichols’ sister reads heartbreaking poem at funeral
Tyre Nichols’s mother and stepfather speak at son’s funeral
Vice President Kamala Harris, left, embraces RowVaughn Wells, the mother of Tyre Nichols, at his funeral service on 1 February.
(Getty Images)
In her remarks at her son’s funeral, Tyre Nichols’s mother RowVaughn Wells urged members of Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, federal police reform legislation aimed at addressing police misonduct and holding officers accountable for police violence.
“If we don’t, that next child that dies, that blood will be on their hands,” she said through tears.
“We’re looking forward to passing some bills. We’re looking forward to getting justice for all of the families over there, not just ours,” Nichols’s stepfather Rodney Wells said. “We cannot continue to let these people brutalize our kids.”
‘All I want is my baby brother back'
Keyana Dixon, the oldest sister of Tyre Nichols, fondly remembered growing up with her younger brother as she addressed a massive congregation gathered for his funeral.
“I see the world showing him love and fighting for his justice, but all I want is my baby brother back,” she said, speaking through tears. “Even in his demise, he was still polite: He asked them to ‘Please stop.’”
Ben Crump issues a ‘plea for justice' in funeral remarks
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has represented the families of several Black Americans killed by police, including the family of Tyre Nichols, issued a “plea for justice” during his funeral service.
His plea for justice for Nichols as a son and father “but most of all, the human being.”
Video footage of police officers beating Nichols did not include “not one ounce of humanity,” Mr Crump said.
“Why can’t they see the humanity in Tyre?” he asked.
Watch: Al Sharpton calls Tyre Nichols attackers ‘punks’ during fiery speech at funeral
Al Sharpton calls Tyre Nichols attackers ‘punks’ during fiery speech at funeral
Watch in full: Kamala Harris speaks at the funeral of Tyre Nichols
Watch in full: Kamala Harris speaks at Tyre Nichols’ funeral
Al Sharpton condemns officers charged in Nichols’s death as he delivers eulogy
Rev Al Sharpton condemned the actions of the Black officers who are charged with the murder of Tyre Nichols, arguing that the sacrifies of civil rights leaders like Dr Martin Luther King Jr paved the way for their public service.
“People had to march and go to jail and some people lost their lives to open the doors for you. How dare you act like that sacrifice was for nothing?” he said.
Mr Sharpton visited the Lorraine Motel – where Dr King was killed – the morning before the service.
He invoked Dr King’s “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech that Dr King delivered from the Mason Temple in Memphis the day before his murder.
“Let us all be mountain climbers,” he said.
Kamala Harris addresses Tyre Nichols funeral
(Getty Images)
Rev Al Sharpton invited Vice President Kamala Harris to address a congregation at Tyre Nichols’s funeral service.
“You have been extraordinary,” she said of his mother RowVaughn Wells and stepfather Rodney Wells.
“We have a mother and a father who mourn the life of a young man who should be here today. They have a grandson who now does not have a father. His brothers and sisters will lose the love of growing old withtheir baby brother,” she continued.
Nichols died following “an act of violence at the hands and the feet of the people who have been charged with keeping them safe,” she said.
“This violent act was not in pursuit of public safety. It was not in the interest of keeping the public safe,” she continued. “Was he not also entitled to the right to be safe?”
She urged Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, bipartisan police reform legislation that passed the House of Representatives but stalled in a deadlocked Senate with Republican opposition.
Mother of Black man killed by Houston police officer calls on mothers to ‘stop all of this'
Tiffany Rachal, the mother of Jalen Randle, a Black man who was killed by a Houston police officer last year, addressed the family of Tyre Nichols during his funeral before singing “Lord I Will Lift My Eyes to the Hills.”
Randle, like Nichols, was 29 years old when he died.
“I pray that God bless you. I pray that God heal your broken heart,” she said.
Addressing mothers who have endured police shootings, she said that “we are fighting together and all of the mothers all over the world need to come together and stop all of this.”
Kamala Harris arrives in Memphis
Vice President Kamala Harris has arrived in Memphis to attend the funeral of Tyre Nichols.
(AP)
