Relatives and friends of Tire Nichols, a 29-year-old black man killed by police in Memphis, said goodbye to the American at a funeral this Wednesday (1st), after the case generated national commotion with the scenes of violence made public by local authorities.
US Vice President Kamala Harris attended the ceremony, as well as family members of other victims of police violence in the country, such as Tamika Palmer, mother of Breonna Taylor, shot dead in 2020 in Kentucky, and Philonise Floyd, her younger brother. by George Floyd.
During a brief speech, Kamala paid tribute to the Nichols family, whom she praised for their strength, and said that violence against the 29-year-old man cannot be justified as a measure to maintain public safety. “If that were the case, Nichols would still be with us.”
The Democrat even used the space to once again defend the approval of the George Floyd Act, one of the flags of the Joe Biden government, which, however, has been stuck in Congress for more than two years.
The police reform proposal reinforces punishments for police officers in cases of misconduct, limits the use of force and proposes the creation of a national database on police performance, to prevent a dismissed officer from resuming the function. The measure was approved in the House, but was blocked in the Senate due to Republican action.
The funeral took place at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church, founded in 1921 and known as the first African-American church in Memphis, the city where Nichols has lived since 2020 to be closer to his mother.
Reverend Al Sharpton, a leading US human rights activist, also participated. On Tuesday night (31), at a press conference, he said that this was another case that everyone thought that “nobody would care”. “Okay, tomorrow [quarta], the US vice president will attend the funeral, as will people from around the world. Right now, we’re all Tire Nichols.”
Pastor J. Lawrence Turner, leader of the church, said it was good that everyone was there. “It’s good that we’re in the same place and, yes, that we cry and also find hope that guides us down a path that dismantles this culture that normalizes this type of violence.”
Standing next to Nichols’ flower-bedecked coffin, Pastor Turner described him as “a good person, a beautiful soul, a son, father, brother, friend and human being gone too soon, given the right to life, to liberty and the pursuit of happiness withdrawn”. He also called for transparency, accountability and legislative reform in the country, referring to the police reform addressed by Kamala.
During the ceremony, Tiffany Rachal, mother of Jalen Randle, a black man who was also killed by police last year at the age of 29 – the same age as Nichols – attended the funeral and sang the gospel song in honor of Nichols.
It remains unclear why Nichols, the father of a 4-year-old boy and employee of a postal service company, was stopped by police on Jan. 7, when he was beaten, kicked and pepper sprayed. Three days later, he died of a hemorrhage.
The images of the attacks were released last Friday night (27) and broadcast on TV, which sparked protests in Memphis and other US locations. After the repercussions, the local police department announced that it had shut down the activities of the unit responsible for Nichols’s death.
The five police officers involved in the beating, all black, had already been indicted on Thursday (26) for homicide, assault, kidnapping and other crimes. They too were fired. At least four of them have been involved in episodes of excessive use of force in other approaches in the past.
The department also removed two other agents connected to the case and launched an investigation. Two paramedics and their supervisor were fired by the local fire department on Monday (30), and two deputy sheriffs in Shelby County, where Memphis is located, were suspended.
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