Memphis, Tenn. — The day before the funeral of Tyr Nichols — the father, skateboarder and photographer who tattooed his mother’s name on his arm — the Rev. Al Sharpton invoked Martin Luther King Jr., who delivered his famous “mountaintop” speech. The historic Mason Temple pulpit the night before his assassination.
Sharpton has said he is honored Nichols, 29, died on January 10, three days after being brutally beaten by Memphis police officers, which was captured on video. Nichols’ funeral Wednesday at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church will draw thousands, including high-profile attendees such as Vice President Kamala Harris.
“We will continue in the name of tires to go up to Martin’s mountaintop,” Sharpton said during a Tuesday evening press conference inspired by that last speech before King was shot dead on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel.
“That’s why we wanted to start this right here on holy ground. It’s holy ground,” said Sharpton, along with Nicholas’ parents. “And this family is ours now, and they are in the hands of history, and they are in the hands of those who will fight.”
Protesters share photos of Tyr Nichols in hospital after police beat him
On Martin Luther King Day, which fell about a week after Nichols’ death, his family gathered outside on that balconyNow the National Civil Rights Museum, and continued the first weekend of the Call for Justice.
Protest posters showed a photo of Nicholls, hospitalized, with his face swollen and his nose in an “S” shape. The top of the photo read, “I am a man,” a protest call made famous by the striking Memphis sanitation workers King had come to Memphis to support.
That day the crowd said, “Tyre was a man.”
As Sharpton, faith leaders, activists and Nichols’ family spoke Tuesday night, the same protest posters of Nichols at the hospital lined the church podium organized by local Memphis activists and covered the evening’s speakers.
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Black church leaders call for police reforms
Sharpton was joined Tuesday night by Church of God in Christ Bishops Brandon Porter and Talbert Swann II. Nichols’ parents, Rodney and Rowan Wells, and his siblings also attended.
“The need for justice has brought us here again,” said Porter, whose father opened the doors of the church for King 50 years ago.
Speakers called for true police reform.
“We’ve got to see some concrete changes in this country so that these kinds of incidents don’t have us standing here over and over again,” Swann said, “singing from the same song sheet.”
Swann called for more than just diversifying a police force, he said, “because we understand that racism is systemic and it’s structural. And regardless of the race of the police officer, if you don’t change the structure, It still disenfranchises and brutalizes Black bodies.”
Five of the officers charged in Nichols’ death are Black.
Memphis activist, Amber Sherman spoke with list of demands of the group, including specific measures such as eliminating pretextual stops and requiring more public data on police activity, as well as disbanding police department special units. Nichols was beaten by officers on a saturation patrol unit named Scorpion, which has been deactivated and is under investigation in the wake of his death.
Nichols’ older brother, Jamal Dupree, said, “Back to the activists… you guys are the truth, I applaud you guys.” “You guys have really changed my view of Memphis. Because when I first moved here, it was like a dark cloud over this city.”
In attendance, Sharpton said, were family members of Eric Garner, who died in 2014 after being put in a chokehold by New York police, and Stephen Clark, who was killed by Sacramento, California, police in 2018.
Nichols’ family say they want justice
Nicholls’ stepfather said he had a message that was “sweet and short”.
Rodney Wells said, “Keep fighting for justice for our son and my family. Protect my wife, because she is very fragile right now. We need this for her, trust me. And I need it too.” ” “It’s going to be short tonight, because we have a long battle ahead of us. We have to stay strong for this.”
