‘No Other Child Should Suffer’: Thousands Mourn Death Of Tyre Nichols As Kamala Harris Condemns 'Violent Act'

US vice-president Kamala Harris attended the funeral service of Tyre Nichols and called the death of the motorist at the hands of police a moment that demands congressional police reform.

The funeral of Tyre Nichols witnessed thousands of mourners attending the service on Wednesday including US vice-president Kamala Harris, who condemned the 'violent act'. Nichols died three days after Memphis police officers beat him following a traffic stop last month.

The five officers involved have been charged with murder and other crimes. The Rev Al Sharpton, who delivered a tribute to Nichols, expressed anger and noted that at least five Black officers were involved in the incident which took place so close to the location where Dr Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated, according to The Guardian report. “In the city that Dr King lost his life, not far away from that balcony, you beat a brother to death,” added Sharpton.

“All he wanted to do was get home,” said Sharpton. Struck by grief Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, and other family members also offered their tributes demanding action and the clearance of a stalled federal law that aims to reform the police.

“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 that lost their children – we need to get that bill passed because if we don’t, the next child that dies, their blood is going to be on their hands,” Wells was quoted as saying in the report.

Nichols’ stepfather, Rodney Wells, similarly called for justice: “What’s done in the dark will always come to the light, and the light of day is justice for Tyre, justice for all the families that have lost loved ones to brutality of police or anybody.”

Meanwhile, US vice-president Kamala Harris, who attend the funeral service, called the death of the motorist at the hands of police a moment that demands congressional police reform.

“This violent act was not in pursuit of public safety … Was [Tyre Nichols] not also entitled to the right to be safe?” said Harris, as quoted in the CNN report. In a brief remark at the service, Harris highlighted law enforcement’s duty to maintain public safety

“So when we talk about public safety, let us understand what it means in its truest form. Tyre Nichols should have been safe,” Harris said added while speaking at the Memphis funeral service.

Expressing hope that Nichols’ death might shine a light on the path toward peace and justice, the vice-president said, “As vice president of the United States, we demand that Congress pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Joe Biden will sign it and we should not delay.” 

Tyre Nichols, 29, died three days after a 7 January traffic stop spiralled into a fatal physical assault, The Guardian reported citing local jail records. The case has brought back the focus on police brutality in the US after the death of George Floyd in 2020.  

The funeral service took place within a week after footage of his arrest was made public which triggered outrage regarding police brutality.  The brutal attack sparked led to peaceful protests from New York to Los Angeles besides bringing focus on police reform and scrutiny of specialized police units that target guns in high crime areas.

Lawyers for Nichols' family have highlighted the fatal beating as the latest instance of racially biased police using unjustified lethal force against an African American. The five officers charged in this case were themselves Black.