The lawyer representing the family of Tyre Nichols, who was fatally beaten by five police officers in January, has called on the US Congress to pass urgent police reform legislation.
Ben Crump, the lawyer, urged President Joe Biden to use Mr. Nichols’s death to gain support for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
Additionally, Mr. Crump stated that Mr. Nichols’s mother is coping with her son’s loss by hoping that his death could lead to change. “She believes in her heart Tyre was sent here for an assignment and that there is going to be greater good that comes from this tragedy,” Mr Crump said.
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act was introduced in 2021 in response to the widespread protests that ensued following the death of George Floyd. The act aims to address the issues of police brutality and racial discrimination within law enforcement by banning chokeholds, making it easier to bring charges against officers who commit offenses, and establishing a national registry for police misconduct.
Despite being passed by the House of Representatives, the bill has faced opposition in the Senate, leading to calls for urgent action from Mr. Crump and other civil rights activists. “Shame on us if we don’t use his tragic death to finally get the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act passed,” Mr Crump told CNN. He also stressed that if the law does not change, deaths at the hands of police will continue.
The Republican House of Representatives Judiciary chair, Jim Jordan, has warned politicians against rushing legislation, stating that “I don’t know if there’s anything you can do to stop the kind of evil we saw in that video.” However, supporters of the bill argue that it is a necessary step towards ensuring accountability and justice for victims of police brutality.
Furthermore, a childhood friend of Mr. Nichols, Angelina Paxton, stated that his legacy would be preserved through legal reform. Ms. Paxton said Mr. Nichols was “very passionate about Black Lives Matter” and that “he always wanted to make a difference.”
In response to Mr. Nichols’s death, the Memphis Police Department disbanded the so-called Scorpion special unit, of which the police officers charged with murder were members. The unit was a 50-person team that was tasked with reducing crime levels, particularly car thefts, and gang-related offenses. The five officers – Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr, Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith – were fired from the Memphis police force last week. Four of the five posted bail and were released from custody by Friday morning, according to jail records.
