Vigil held at Lake Eola Park for Tennessee’s Tyre Nichols
Electric candles were lit up by the dozens who gathered Saturday evening near the Muse of Discovery in Lake Eola Park in honor of Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old man killed Jan. 7 by Memphis police officers.
Vigils and protests were held in communities throughout the U.S. after body camera video showed Nichols being brutally beaten by five cops while being restrained after being stopped for reckless driving. Nichols died three days later of his injuries.
Five officers were fired Jan. 20 and charged with murder, a sixth officer was fired Friday and the specialized unit they were part of was dissolved. Nichols is one of at least seven unarmed people killed by police so far in 2023, according to the Washington Post, following a year in which Mapping Police
Violence found cops killed a record number of civilians.
Though the officers charged with murdering Nichols are Black, U.S. Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost, who attended the vigil, said that “doesn’t mean that this didn’t come from the root cause of white supremacy.”
“There’s nothing more antiBlack than Black people killing each other because of a system they’re a part of,” Frost said. “And it’s something we have to unpack. It’s not about making people feel guilty, it’s about understanding our history so we can fix our present.”
Politicians, community leaders and some heads of law enforcement spoke out against the video of Nichols’ killing. Frost said he cried after watching the video at an airport and has spoken out numerous times against police brutality since its release.
“I hate saying this but it’s so important to understand it, there’s no justice for people who have already died,” he said. “The only justice we can have for Tyre … is by ensuring that it never happens again to any other person.”
Nichols was laid to rest Wednesday, surrounded by family who described him as joyful, kind and creative. He had moved to Memphis from California before the COVID-19 outbreak and lived with his mother, with whom he was close.
Video of his death showed he called out for his mother, who lived just minutes from where he was beaten.
“Just like everyone else, Tyre was a living human being … but he was left defenseless calling out for his mother with his final dying breath,” said Keten Abebe, who spoke at the vigil and is president of Black Leaders of Tomorrow at University High School, where she is a senior.
Those at the vigil held up their candles and chanted Nichols name, along with the names of Breonna Taylor, killed by Louisville police officers, and George Floyd, whose murder by a Minneapolis cop sparked nationwide street protests despite a pandemic.
The vigil also served as a call for further reform to combat police brutality. State Rep. Anna Eskamani voiced support for criminalizing cops who don’t intervene in instances of excessive force and funding mental health services to respond to certain calls in lieu of police.
“This system is criminally broken, but don’t just come to vigils,” she said. “Come to Tallahassee, come to committee meetings, help organize. We have the power to change it, but we have to find that power within ourselves.”