Vice President Kamala Harris plans to attend the funeral of Tire Nichols, the young man who was beaten to death by five Memphis police officers earlier this month.
Harris “will be traveling to Memphis, Tennessee for a funeral” on February 1, the White House announced.
The selection of such a high-ranking representative from the White House underscores the political impact of Nichols’ death following the brutal beating that was closely watched across the country through a series of videotapes.
President Joe Biden said he was “outraged and deeply hurt” by the footage of police officers beating Nichols.
Kamala Harris at the Vice President’s residence in Washington, USA, in September last year. Photo: AP.
Nichols will be eulogized by Pastor Al Sharpton at a service at Mississippi Boulevard Catholic Church in Memphis. Family members Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, who died at the hands of police in Louisville and Minneapolis in 2020, will also attend.
Meanwhile, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said on January 31 that prosecutors could bring more criminal charges against police officers and others involved in Nichols’ beating. when criticism emerged of the way Mulroy’s office and the Memphis Police Department handled the matter.
The Memphis Police Department last week released a video showing Tire Nichols’ January 7 encounter with five police officers. In the video, officers try to subdue Nichols, 29, with a stun gun. When the young man ran away, the police group chased him, repeatedly punching and beating the victim with batons.
Nichols was handcuffed and fell to the ground. About 20 minutes later, an ambulance arrived on the scene and took him to the hospital. He died three days later from kidney damage and cardiac arrest.
The five officers who beat Nichols were charged with second-degree murder last week and fired from the force.
After the video of Nichols’ encounter with the police was made public on January 27, a series of protests broke out, calling for police officials and local prosecutors to be more transparent about the circumstances. details of the incident as initial reports did not match what happened in the video.
Ben Crump, the attorney for the Nichols family, said police were dishonest with his mother. “She thought there was a conspiracy to cover things up in the first place,” Crump said above CNN.
In a statement on Twitter, Mulroy County District Attorney said other officers, fire department personnel and those involved in preparing documents about the incident could also face criminal charges as more information becomes available. believe.
“We are looking into all of the individuals involved during and after the beating of Tire Nichols,” his office said, adding that the investigation was still incomplete.
Vu Hoang (Theo AFP, Reuters)