Finally, nearly a month after investigations, Tyre Nichols will be laid to rest Wednesday Feb 1. In addition to the high profile activists and politicians that will be in attendance, the family of George Floyd, another victim of police brutality, will be joining Nichols’ family in giving Tyre a proper home-going.
Attorney Benjamin Crump confirmed the family’s attendance to TMZ. He also said they’ve sent their condolences to Nichols’ family. Both Floyd and Nichols left behind a young child.
We shouldn’t have to enter Black History Month with a funeral for one of our brothers… whose life was taken by a few more of our brothers. However, Nichols’ death may serve as an impactful reflection of history and how much progress we have (or haven’t) made as a country.
Nichols’ family attorneys likened the video of Nichols being beaten by police to that of Rodney King, who was beaten and bloodied by LAPD officers in 1991. King’s daughter, Lora, said she was sickened by the footage of Tyre. “If you see someone time and time again, who looks like you, your dad, your brother, how would you feel? It’s a pattern and we’re still here,” she told NBC News.
Cries for justice spread swiftly across the country after people saw the mutilated face of Nichols and the moments that led to his hospitalization. Similarly, the nation outpoured calls to action following the murder of Emmitt Till upon seeing his disfigured face in the open casket. As thousands of people showed up for Till’s funeral, Rev. J. Lawrence Turner of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church said he expects a turnout of over 2,500 people for Nichols’ funeral.
National Action Network founder Rev. Al Sharpton was invited to do the eulogy for the service. He told The Commercial Appeal he plans to memorialize Nichols as a police brutality that won’t just be another hashtag but actually initiate change.
Read more from Sharpton via USA TODAY:
“Tyre will be known as one of those police brutality victims that cause the whole nation, if not the whole western world, to stop and deal with the question of police abuse,” Sharpton said.
For the civil rights leader, delivering Nichols’ eulogy provides him an opportunity to let family, friends, local activists, and national politicians know that the fight for justice for Nichols, along with the fight for reforms, will not end when the service finishes Wednesday.
“Think about the linchpin that made the ‘60s Civil Rights Movement work: it’s that they came out with the ‘64 Civil Rights Act, they came out with the ‘65 Voting Rights Act,” Sharpton said. “We’ve been able to get state laws passed. We have the movement (for police reform), but we have not had the legislation at the federal level. It’s like if King got Alabama and Georgia to do things on integration, but not the Civil Rights Act.”
Nichols’ funeral service will begin at 10:30 a.m. CST and be available to watch via YouTube or Facebook.