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Tyre Nichols’ parents accept invitation to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address [1]
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Date: 2023-01-30
Friday, videos of Nichols being beaten by police were released to the public. The 29-year-old was repeatedly shocked, pepper-sprayed, punched, and kicked by police. Three days following the beating, he died.
The five Memphis police officers who beat and killed Nichols were charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, and kidnapping, The Washington Post reported.
In the wake of Nichols’ deadly beating, Ben Crump, a civil rights attorney representing Nichols’ family, says it’s time for Congress to act.
“Shame on us if we don’t use his tragic death to finally get the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act passed,” Crump said on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday.
x Ben Crump on CNN on killing of Tyre Nichols: "Shame on us if we don't use his tragic death to finally get the George Floyd Justice In Policing Act passed." pic.twitter.com/VyOGL7Mnkb — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 29, 2023
Crump says he hopes that Nichols’ death will be the final straw in significant changes in American policing.
Citing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Crump said, “I can’t stop a man from hating me, but the law can stop a man from killing a man.”
Appearing on ABC’s This Week, Sen. Richard J. Durbin, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said of the measure, “It had many elements in it that are important … It’s necessary that we do all these things, but not sufficient. It’s the right starting point. We need a national conversation about policing in a responsible, constitutional, and humane way.”
The State of the Union address is Biden’s opportunity to lay out his agenda to the House for the next legislative session. Many are hoping that the presence of the Nichols family will urge the president to pressure legislators to push policing reforms.
Kentucky Republican Rep. James Comer, Oversight Committee chair, appeared at The National Press Club event Sunday. When asked about Tyre Nichol’s death, Comer simply said, “I haven’t even thought about it, to be honest with you.” Clearly, defunding and reforming policing is going to be an uphill climb for Biden and all the Democrats pushing for change.
x "I haven't even thought about it, to be honest with you" -- Comer on oversight of Tyre Nichols's killing pic.twitter.com/3t6JLpOFGT — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 30, 2023
During his appearance on MSNBC Sunday, Horsford said:
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[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/30/2150103/-Tyre-Nichols-parents-accept-invitation-to-President-Joe-Biden-s-State-of-the-Union-address
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