Tyre Nichols updates: Mourners honour ‘beautiful person’ at Memphis funeral as family urges Congress to act

Vice President Kamala Harris urged Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, a bipartisan police reform bill passed by the House of Representatives in 2021 but stalled in a deadlocked Senate with Republican opposition.

The bill, named in honor of the black man killed by Minneapolis police officers in 2020, was co-authored by then-Senator Harris.

“Let the memory of Tire shine a light on the path to peace and justice,” Ms Harris said in her brief remarks.

Vice President Kamala Harris had been invited by his mother and stepfather to attend Tire Nichols’ funeral, and Rev. Al Sharpton invited her to address the congregation that had gathered in Memphis on Wednesday.

She told his parents that “the people of our country mourn with you” and praised them for their “strength, courage and grace”.

Tire Nichols’ funeral in Memphis on Wednesday saw renewed calls for passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, federal legislation that passed the House of Representatives in 2021 but has otherwise stalled in Congress.

“The police are partisan actors, just like all those in power,” writes The independent‘s Josh Marcus, reflecting on his coverage of policing and criminal justice. “It’s vital to take their claims with a grain of salt.”

The Memphis Police Department’s now-disbanded SCORPION unit – which stands for “Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods” – was introduced in October 2021. It was disbanded in the wake of Tire Nichols’ death.

The independent‘s Graeme Massie investigates several similarly controversial units in US departments that have been accused of abuse and excessive force.

Far-right Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene invoked the fatal shooting of Capitol rioter Ashli ​​Babbitt after mentioning Tire Nichols, who was fatally beaten by police.

She then suggested that people imprisoned for their role in the uprising face “violations of civil rights” in prison.

Ms Greene went on to say that Congress was doing nothing to address the treatment of other participants in the attack, many of whom are still detained ahead of their respective trials.

There’s a simple reason for this: Ms. Babbitt was part of a mob actively trying to break through a door barricaded in a restricted area. She was shot by an officer when she tried to climb through a window that her fellow rioters had broken. Federal prosecutors closed the case and the officer was cleared of wrongdoing.

A leaked incident report into the arrest and fatal assault of Tire Nichols by Memphis police officers contains glaring inaccuracies that were later exposed after the release of bodycam and surveillance footage.

The report, written two hours after Nichols’ January 7 beating, claimed the 29-year-old was “furious” and refused lawful detention, tried to fight with officers and also tried to take an officer’s gun, during an initial traffic stop.

Four of the five former Memphis Police Department officers charged with fatally beating Tire Nichols had been suspended or reprimanded in previous incidents while working for the department, according to recently revealed personnel files.

The officers had little or no repercussions, according to the city records of their cases, and they were commended on at least two occasions, with other officers describing their actions as one-time events.

LaToya Yizar, who says her mother was Tire Nichols’ godmother, read a poem at his funeral recalling the words he told officers the night he was beaten.

From the lectern at Mississippi Boulevard Baptist Church in Memphis, she read “I’m Just Trying to Go Home”.

In his eulogy, Rev. Al Sharpton said that “home is not just a place.”

“Home is where you relax. Home is where you don’t have to keep your dukes up. Home is where you are not vulnerable,” he said. “Home is where everything is fine.”