VP Harris to attend funeral of Nichols killed by police
2023.02.01 05:21
VP Harris to attend funeral of Nichols killed by police
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – The White House announced on Tuesday that Vice President Kamala Harris would attend Tyre Nichols’ funeral on Wednesday. Nichols, a Black man, died three days after being brutally beaten by Memphis police officers during a traffic stop earlier this month.
The Reverend Al Sharpton will pay tribute to Nichols at a service on Wednesday morning at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis. In addition, there will be attendance from the families of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, who were killed by police in 2020 in Louisville, Kentucky, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In the meantime, in response to growing criticism of the way Mulroy’s office and the Memphis Police Department have handled the case, Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy stated on Tuesday that prosecutors could bring additional criminal charges against police officers and others in connection with Nichols’ fatal beating.
Last week, five Black officers were dismissed from the force after being charged with second-degree murder. A sixth officer, Preston Hemphill, was suspended from duty shortly after the Jan. 7 attack, according to the department’s Monday confirmation. He has not been charged criminally.
Given that the initial police reports do not match what was seen on the videos, calls for local police officials and prosecutors to be more transparent about the circumstances of the incident have grown in volume since Friday’s release of video footage of the fatal encounter with police.
On Tuesday, Ben Crump, the family’s attorney, said that the police had not been open with Nichols’ mother about the incident, which he called a “police lynching.”
As additional information becomes available, District Attorney Mulroy stated in a statement posted on Twitter that additional officers, members of the fire department, and others who prepared documentation of the incident may also face criminal charges.
His office stated, “We are looking at all individuals involved in the events leading up to, during, and after the beating of Tyre Nichols,” noting that the investigation is still ongoing.
The office stated that an officer who was present during the initial encounter with Nichols may also face charges, which appeared to be a reference to Hemphill. According to Lee Gerald, Hemphill’s attorney, the white man who wore the body camera that captured the first of four videos released by authorities of the traffic stop and subsequent violent confrontation.
After Nichols is dragged from his car, forced to the ground, and doused with pepper spray before he escapes, Hemphill appears to fire a stun gun at Nichols in the video. He was pursued by the five officers who were later let go.
The department announced on Monday that a seventh officer, who was not immediately identified, was also relieved of duty without pay. That officer has not been charged. He has not been named for his part in the incident.
Monday, investigators discovered that Nichols was handcuffed on the ground without receiving medical attention for nearly 15 minutes after the beating. As a result, three members of the Memphis Fire Department who responded to the incident were fired.
In addition to the five officers who were initially charged, according to Police Chief Cerelyn Davis, an unspecified number of officers are still under investigation for violating Nichols’ arrest policy.
