Impassioned calls for police reform at Tyre Nichols’ funeral in Memphis

Tyre Nichols’ family and friends gathered Wednesday for a funeral that blended a celebration of his life with outrage over the brutal beating he endured at the hands of Memphis police and heated calls for police reform.

Rev. Al Sharpton and VicePresident Kamala Harris both delivered impassioned speeches calling on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a broad package of police reforms that includes a national registry for police officers disciplined for misconduct, a ban on no-knock warrants and other measures.

Ms. Harris said the beating of Mr. Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, by five Black police officers was a violent act that went against the stated mission of police to ensure public safety.

“It was not in the interest of keeping the public safe, because one must ask, was not it in the interest of keeping the public safe that Tyre Nichols would be with us today? Was he not also entitled to the right to be safe? So when we talk about public safety, let us understand what it means in its truest form. Tyre Nichols should have been safe,” she said.

Mr. Sharpton said the officers who beat Nichols might have acted differently if there was real accountability for their actions. He also said he believes that if Nichols had been white, “you wouldn’t have beat him like that.”

Mr. Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, fought back tears as she spoke of her son.

“The only thing that’s keeping me going is that I truly believe that my son was sent here on assignment from God. And I guess now his assignment is done. He’s gone home,” she said.

She also urged Congress to pass the law named after George Floyd. Members of his family and others who have been killed by police attended the funeral, including Breonna Taylor, Botham Jean and Eric Garner.

“We need to take some action because there should be no other child that should suffer the way my son – and all the other parents here have lost their children – we need to get that bill passed,” Ms. Wells said. “Because if we don’t, that blood – the next child that dies, that blood is going to be on their hands.”