The funeral of African-American Tire Nichols, whose fatal beating by black police officers shocked the United States, is being held in the city of Memphis on Wednesday in the presence of Vice President Kamala Harris.
The ceremony promises to be political, the lawyer for the family of Tire Nichols, Ben Crump, having to launch “a call to act” against police violence.
A strong symbol, a brother of George Floyd, a black man in his forties whose death in 2020 under the knee of a white policeman had triggered massive anti-racist demonstrations, will attend the funeral.
And it is the Reverend Al Sharpton, a figure in the fight for civil rights, who will deliver the funeral oration at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church.
First scheduled for 10:30 a.m. local time (4:30 p.m. GMT), the religious service will finally be held at 1:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. GMT).
In addition to George Floyd’s brother, Breonna Taylor’s mother, Tamika Palmer, must also be present.
Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American, was shot dead by police in her Kentucky apartment in 2020 in the middle of the night and became an icon of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Tire Nichols, 29, was arrested on January 7 by agents from a special unit in Memphis, in the southern United States, for a simple traffic violation, according to the police.
But beaten so badly that he became unrecognizable according to his family, he died three days later in hospital.
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke on the phone Tuesday with Tyre Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, and stepfather Rodney Wells, who invited her to the funeral, according to their lawyer.
In a phone call he described as “emotional,” “the vice president was able to console Ms. Wells and even help her smile,” said Ben Crump, who also represented the Floyd family. and specialized in the defense of victims of police violence.
A sign of the attention given by the White House to this affair, President Joe Biden had himself spoken last week with the parents of Tire Nichols to salute “their courage and their strength” a few hours before publication. of the video of his ordeal in the hands of the police.
RowVaughn Wells and Rodney Wells were also invited by the parliamentary group bringing together African-American elected officials to attend Mr. Biden’s State of the Union speech on February 7 in Congress in Washington.
The unbearable images of the arrest and beatings inflicted on the young man by the agents were broadcast, without cuts, by the largest channels in the country, raising fears of a social conflagration to the authorities.
The five police officers involved were fired and charged with murder. The “Scorpion Unit” to which they belonged, and which had the mission of reducing the number of illegal activities in sensitive neighborhoods by deploying more police there, has been dismantled.
Three firefighters were dismissed in connection with the facts and two other police officers suspended.
During the arrest, “no one showed humanity towards Tire Nichols, and those responsible must be held accountable,” Ben Crump said.
President Biden plans to receive members of the caucus bringing together African-American lawmakers at the White House on Thursday to “discuss legislation on police reform and other shared priorities,” said Olivia Dalton, a spokeswoman for the executive.
“President Biden is determined to do everything in his power (…) to ensure that our criminal justice system lives up to expectations of impartial justice (…) and dignity for all” , she added.
02/01/2023 16:46:23 – Memphis (United States) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP