Nichols’ mother, Rouvonne Wells, tearfully called on Congress to pass a police reform bill named after George Floyd
‘A beautiful soul’ who, due to police ‘brutal action’, died too soon: those who attended the funeral of Tyr Nichols, the young African-American who he was beaten to death by police officers in the US, they took action against police brutality.
Nichols’ motherheld her son for a while in her arms inside the Memphis church where his funeral was held yesterday, Wednesday.
US Vice President Kamala Harris spoke harshly about the police officers who beat the young man while he was shouting that he had not done anything and was asking for help.
“Didn’t she have a right to feel safe?” Harris asked. “Here is a family that lost their son and brother to an act of violence” committed by “people who had a responsibility to protect him,” he complained.
The Reverend Al Sharpton, a noted civil rights activist who delivered the eulogy, said he was particularly shocked that the five police officers who beat Nichols were themselves African-American.
“In the city where (Martin Luther) King was killed (…) you beat one of your brothers to death,” he complained.
“There is nothing more insulting to those of us who have fought to open doors, to walk through those doors, and to act like the people we had to fight for you to walk through those doors,” Sharpton added.
Tyr Nichols, 29, was arrested on January 7 by members of the Memphis Police Scorpion Task Force in the southern US for a traffic violation.
The five police officers beat him so much so that he was now unrecognizable, according to his family, and succumbed to his injuries three days later in hospital.
The five police officers have been dismissed and charged with homicide, while the group Scorpion also disbanded.
Yesterday’s ceremony featured photographs taken by Nichols, who has a website dedicated to photography, as well as videos.
The young man was “a good, a beautiful soul,” said the Reverend J. Lawrence Turner.
“The next child to die”
Attending the funeral was one of the brothers of George Floyd, the African-American who died in 2020 during his violent arrest by white police officers, an event that had sparked mass protests in the US against police brutality.
In tears, Nichols’ mother, Rouvonne Wells, to the applause of those in attendance, called on Congress to adopt police reform billnamed after George Floyd, which is currently blocked.
“Because if they don’t, that blood, the next child that dies, they will have his blood on their hands,” he stressed.
“It’s just the beginning,” Nichols’ stepfather, Rodney Wells, pledged. “We look forward to justice for all families (…) not just ours,” he added.
The White House has attached particular importance to this case, and US President Joe Biden spoke last week with Nichols’ parents.
In addition, the African-American caucus invited Reuben and Rodney Wells to attend Biden’s State of the Union address, which he will deliver on February 7 in Congress.
At the same time, the American president intends to receive today at the White House members of this parliamentary group to “discuss police reform and other common priorities”, according to his representative.
Police in the US came under fire again yesterday for using excessive force, following the death in California of an African-American man with two legs amputated who was killed during a law enforcement intervention.
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With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
