Vice President Kamala Harris Calls for Reform at Tyre Nichols’s Funeral

Days after five former police officers were charged for the murder of Tyre Nichols, family, friends, and supporters came together to honor him at his funeral. Among them was Vice President Kamala Harris.

Harris joined Nichols's family on for the service, which took place Wednesday at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, Tennessee.

While there, she took the stand to voice her sadness over the 29-year-old's passing, and offered words of support for his loved ones. "We are here to celebrate the life of Tyre Nichols," she said.

Addressing his parents, Rodney and RowVaughn Wells, she added: "We mourn with you."

On January 7, Nichols was pulled over for a traffic stop by a group of Memphis Police. At some point during the stop, five officers came together to attack Nichols. Shocking footage released last week shows the horrific incident, in which the officers (who've now been fired from the force and charged with second-degree murder) brutally beat the young Black man for three minutes, until he had to be transported to the hospital in critical condition. He died of his injuries three days later.

The former officers were also charged with aggravated assault, two charges of aggravated kidnapping, two charges of official misconduct, and one charge of official oppression.

Nichols's funeral service began with several musical performances and remarks from his siblings. Rev. Al Sharpton, a civil rights activist and Baptist minister, delivered a moving eulogy and called for justice and reform.

Harris, too, highlighted the need for change in the country—especially for Black Americans. The vice president called for the passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which the Biden-Harris administration introduced in 2020 and again in 2021. "As vice president of the United States, we demand that Congress pass the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act," Harris said. "Joe Biden will sign it. We should not delay and we will not be denied. It is non-negotiable."

Also in her speech, Harris voiced her condolences for Nichols's parents and for the parents of other Black Americans who've died from police violence. "Mothers around the world, when their babies are born, pray to God when they hold that child, that that body and that life will be safe for the rest of his life," she said. "Yet we have a mother and a father who mourn the life of a young man who should be here today."

She added that the solution lies in police reform. "One must ask: Was not it in the interest of keeping the public safe that Tyre Nichols would be here with us today? Was he not also entitled to the right to be safe? So when we talk about public safety let us understand what it means in its truest form. Tyre Nichols should have been safe," Harris said.

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