Tire Nichols’ mother said “blood will fall on the hands” of members and women of Congress if they fail to pass a bill that would limit immunity for US police officers.
vice president Kamala Harris and prominent civil rights activist Rev Al Sharpton urged Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act a Mr Nichols funeral in Memphis Thursday.
RowVaughn Wells, the mother of the 29-year-old who died three days after being beaten by police, said: “We have to get that bill through. The next child that dies, blood will be on their hands.”
He paid tribute to his son, saying: “Tyre was a beautiful person and for this to happen to him is unimaginable.
“The only thing that keeps me going is thinking that my son was sent here on behalf of God. I guess now his assignment is over and he has been taken home.”
Mr. Nichols’ brothers also paid tribute to their brother. His sister said: “He was robbed of his life, his passions and his talents but not his light.”
She said when she heard the news: “I lost my faith, I cried, I screamed at God asking how He could allow this to happen.
“My screams turned to anger and my anger turned to deep pain when those monsters killed my little brother. They left me heartbroken.
“My family will never be the same and I will always love my little brother.”
After being invited to the pulpit by the Reverend Sharpton, Ms. Harris said, “Let our memory of Tire light the path to peace and justice.”
Kamala Harris at Tire Nichols funeral
Ms. Harris praised the “courage and strength” of Tire Nichols’ family.
“We mourn with you and the people of this country mourn with you.
“Mothers all over the world, when their babies are born, pray to God when they hold that baby that that body and that life will be safe for the rest of its life.
“And yet we have a mother and father mourning the life of a young man who should be here today.
“They have a nephew who now has no father. His brothers and sisters will lose the love of growing old with their little brother.
“When we look at this situation, this is a family who have lost their son and brother to an act of violence at the hands and feet of people who were charged with keeping them safe,” he said.
Nichols tires
“Didn’t he also have a right to be safe?”
Reverend Sharpton criticized the police officers who beat Mr. Nichols.
Recalling Martin Luther King’s death in Memphis 55 years ago, when he was campaigning for the rights of black workers, he asked, “In the city where they killed the dreamer, what happened to the dream?
“Five black men who wouldn’t have had jobs in the police department…in the town where Dr. King lost his life, not far from that balcony, you beat a brother to death.
“There is nothing more insulting and offensive. You didn’t walk into a police department alone. People had to march and go to jail and some lost their lives to open their doors for you.
“How dare you act as if that sacrifice was for nothing?”
Read more: Punches, kicks and tasers – Tire Nichols violent arrest timeline
RowVaughn Wells mourns as she and her husband Rodney Wells attend the funeral
The families of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, killed by police officers in 2020, as well as Academy Award-winning director Spike Lee, were among hundreds of mourners at the church.
The funeral was held at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis with the church’s celebration choir singing a chorus of “I love you Tire” as mourners entered the church.
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Photographs taken by Mr Nichols, as well as images of him as a child and his beloved hobby of skateboarding, were shown to mourners along with a quote attributed to the 29-year-old: ‘My vision is to take my viewers deep into what I see through my eyes and through my lens”.
Mr. Nichols’ black coffin was draped with a bouquet of white flowers, and a painting of Martin Luther King and other prominent figures and slogans were placed next to it.
Read more:
The deadly assault draws painful parallels for Americans who are no strangers to videos of police violence
“I will not stop” fighting for justice, says Tire Nichols’ mother
Mr. Nichols was aggressively punched, kicked and bludgeoned by several Memphis police officers after he was stopped at a traffic stop on Jan. 7.
So far five police officers have been charged with second-degree murder and fired while two other officers have been suspended from duty.
Even the Memphis Fire Department fired three staff members after an investigation found that Mr. Nichols was left without medical attention for nearly 15 minutes following the assault.
Protests have taken place in several US cities after footage of the attack was released.
