Tyre Nichols funeral as it happened: Thousands mourn man killed by Memphis police on video

After several civil rights leaders and family leaders gave impassioned speeches calling for police reform, Tyre Nichols' funeral has come to an end.

It was an emotionally-charged service in which many blasted the Memphis police officers who brutally beat Tyre Nichols on January 7, 2023.

The Rev. Al Sharpton made headlines for his impassioned plea for police reform, vowing to hold those responsible for Nichols' death accountable, after Vice President Kamala Harris urged Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

And famed civil rights attorney Ben Crump said Tyre Nichols' death will lead to a change, in which police who kill citizens are brought to 'swift justice.'

The funeral service saw over 2,000 people squeezing into the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, Tennessee, where they vowed to stand by Tyre Nichols' family as they continue to grieve his loss.

As the funeral service came to an end Wednesday afternoon, Tyre Nichols' black wooden casket covered in white flowers was seen being removed from the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church.

In a statement following Tyre Nichols, Shelby County Mayor said: 'Today, another family said goodbye to their loved one for the final time and far too soon.

'My prayers are with the family of Mr. Tyre Nichols,' Lee Harris said. 'While Mr. Nichols will live on in this pursuit of justice, he should be alive today to laugh with his mother, meet his friends at the skate park and reflect among the rays of another sunset.

'It is now our turn to carry on this pursuit and make sure justice is served,' he continued. 

'I know our community will face this together with determination, hope and an eye for a brighter future.'

Following the funeral, director Spike Lee told a local news station he felt the need to attend Tyre Nichols' funeral after seeing the body camera footage of his brutal beating.

He said he saw the video and 'has to look at what's being done to us,' so he got on a plane to Memphis Wednesday morning ahead of the ceremony,

Lee also said he advocates for the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

One of Tyre Nichols' sisters delivered a powerful poem about his desire to return home on January 7, 2023 when he was stopped by Memphis police officers and brutally beaten.

She described the peace that their home provided and what home meant to them.

Tyre Nichols' mother on Wednesday paused her eulogy as a woman in the crowd shouted that Tyre Nichols is 'going to change the world.'

'Yes,' RowVaughn Wells agreed between tears as she spoke about the need to pass police reform in the United States.

In brief remarks at her son's funeral, Tyre Nichols' mother urged passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

'We need to pass that bill because if we don't the next child that dies, that blood is going to be on their hands,' RowVaughn Wells said between tears, claiming: 'The only thing that's keeping me going is the fact that I truly believe my son was sent here on an assignment from God and I guess now, his assignment is done.'

The bill would apparently include legislation named after Tyre Nichols that provides emergency medical workers with a duty to intervene.

Tyre Nichols' stepfather, Rodney Wells, vowed at his funeral on Wednesday to fight for justice for Tyre and other victims of police violence.

'It's just the beginning,' he said. 'We're looking forward to getting some bills, we're looking forward to getting some justice for all the families there.'

He continued to say: 'We cannot allow these people to continue to brutalize these kids.'

In his eulogy on Wednesday, the Rev. Al Sharpton pointed out the families of other gun violence victims in the audience.

Tyre Nichols' sisters spoke of the 'heartbreak' they felt when they found out their brother died days after being brutally beaten by Memphis police officers.

Keyana Dixon said she started to cry when she received the news from her mother, 'then my tears turned to anger.'

'Even in his demise, he was still polite - he asked them to "please stop" and they didn't.

'I will love my brother forever,' she said.

Al Sharpton pleaded for the public to continue to support Tyre Nichols' family as they continue to grieve the loss of the 29-year-old.

'Let us support this family and support this family,' he intoned, noting that every black family who lost a loved one to police violence 'are wedded in the struggle together.'

Speaking to mourners on Wednesday, Ben Crump said it is important that the families of other black people killed by police see 'swift justice too' after five black cops were quickly charged in Tyre Nichols' death.

He said the swiftness in which the officers are charged should be the standard, saying the 'legacy of Tyre Nichols' will be 'that we see justice swiftly.'

Famed civil rights attorney Ben Crump said the Memphis police officers involved in Tyre Nichols' deaths failed to see him as a human.

He said the officers did not 'extend one ounce of humanity.'

'Why couldn't they see the humanity in Tyre?' he asked.

Al Sharpton called for the passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to end qualified immunity for police officers.

By passing the bill, he said, police would 'think twice' before putting someone in a chokehold or pressing their knee onto a black man's neck.

'Let's get rid of qualified immunity and see if you have the same manners you have on the white side of town as you have on the black side of town.'

He added: 'We're not asking for anything special, we're asking to be treated like equals.'

In his eulogy on Wednesday, the Rev. Al Sharpton slammed the five black police officers involved in Tyre Nichols' death, saying they were acting like the people black people had to fight against in the Civil Rights Movement.

'You didn't get on the police department by yourself,' the pastor said. 'People had to march. and go to jail and some people lost their lives to open the doors for you.

'And how dare you act like that sacrifice was for nothing?'

He continued to say: 'You don't stand up to criminals on the street by becoming criminals yourself. You don't fight gangs by fighting an unarmed black man.'

And he promised: 'We won't stop until you're held accountable.'

Before delivering his eulogy, the Rev. Al Sharpton turned the microphone over to Vice President Kamala Harris, who praised Tyre Nichols' mother and stepfather's grace as she blasted the Memphis police.

'You have been extraordinary in terms of your strength, your courage, and your grace,' she said. 'We mourn with you and the people of our country mourn with you.'

'We have a mother and a father of a young man who should be here today,' she said, but was killed 'at the hands and feet of people who have been charged with keeping them safe.'

'I will say: This violent act was not in the interest of public safety,' the vice president continued. 'Tyre Nichols should be safe.'

At that point, she demanded that Congress pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, saying: 'It is non-negotiable.'

The pastor took time out of Tyre Nichols funeral service on Wednesday to showcase some photos of the 29-year-old father-of-one throughout the years.

Mixed in were photos from protests held across the country in recent days, including in Boston, Houston and Los Angeles.

It started with a quote attributed to Tyre Nichols, an amateur photographer: 'My vision is to bring my viewers deep into what I am seeing through my eyes and out through my lens.'

Tiffany Rachal, whose son, Jalen Randle, was killed by Houston police officers last year, sang at the funeral service on Wednesday.

Before singing Lord I Will Lift My Eyes to the Hills, Rachal said: 'Mothers need to come together and stop all of this.'

Rev. Dr. J. Lawrence Turner began Tyre Nichols' funeral on Wednesday by blasting the police officers responsible for his death.

He said Nichols, who was only 29 when he was brutally beaten, was 'denied his rights to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness' and was 'denied [his] right to hold his son.

Turner concluded by saying the pattern of black people being killed by police officers will be 'canceled and will not be renewed.'

'We're going to overcome in this struggle for justice for our brother Tyre Nichols,' Turner said, after describing Nichols as a 'good person, a beautiful soul, a son, a father, a brother, a friend, a human being, gone too soon.'

housands of mourners have descended on a Memphis church to pay their respects to Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old unarmed black man who was brutally beaten following a traffic stop.

More than 2,000 people are expected to be in attendance for the service at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church Wednesday afternoon, which will serve as a way to remember the amateur photographer's life while also encouraging action for systemic police change.

Newly-released personnel files show that four of the five Memphis cops charged in Tyre Nichols' death have been disciplined in the past.

The files released by the city Tuesday night detail how Officers Demetrius Haley and Emmitt Martin were both disciplined twice since 2019, while Justin Smith and Desmond Mills were disciplined once during their careers.

A fifth cop charged in Nichols' death, Tadarrius Bean, had never been reprimanded, however.

The personnel files, obtained by WREG, detail how the four officers were previously reprimanded for a slew of violations including excessive force, failing to search suspects, failure to issue a report and failure to maintain proper control of a vehicle. 

Vice President Kamala Harris was pictured waving to reporters in a long black coat and a black dress as she heads to Tyre Nichols' funeral.

The vice president was escorted by Secret Service in an official government vehicle as she she heads to the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church.

Tyre Nichols' funeral was delayed until 1pm local time due to inclement weather and travel delays, organizers said.

An ice storm shuttered Memphis schools on Tuesday and canceled flights to the city's airports — including the one Ben Crump, Nichols' family attorney, was supposed to take Tuesday evening.

The Rev. J. Lawrence Turner, who will lead the funeral of Tyre Nichols at the Mississippi Boulevard Church, said he hopes the service will bring about change.

Speaking to Axios, Lawrence said the funeral will serve as a moment of grief for the community suffering another 'collective trauma.'

'This is a big moment,' he said, noting he will try to encourage mourners to channel their outrage into fighting for systemic change. 'We're trying to do our best to combine all of these elements so that this service has meaning and purpose.'

He then went on to say that Nichols 'represents many of use who have hopes and aspirations and dreams.

'Tragically, his life was taken away at the hands of those officers. However, I think he teaches us to live and fulfill a greater purpose.

'I think in his life, and even in his death, he's going to hopefully shift and bring about a change that we've been waiting for in the life of our country.'

Civil rights activists have renewed their calls for the passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.

The bill was approved by the Democrat-led House in March, but was never passed by the Senate.

It aims to end police techniques like chokeholds and carotid holds, which could be deadly. 

Those practices would also be banned at the federal level, and federal funding for state and local police would be contingent on outlawing them.

It also seeks to improve police training and invest in community programs designed to improve policing and promote new policies.

Other provisions would:

• Ban no-knock warrants in federal drug cases and encourage local and state agencies to comply by tying bans to federal funding
• End qualified immunity, which protects law enforcement in most civil cases
• Prohibit racial, religious and other profiling
• Create a national police misconduct registry to prevent police officers who are fired from one agency from being hired by another
• Require local and state police to use existing federal funds for body cameras
• Limit how much military-grade equipment is awarded to state and local law enforcement agencies 

Speaking to MSNBC ahead of the ceremony, Sharpton said he plans to address police brutality in the city where civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr died.

He said the 'only comfort' that he can afford Nichols' family 'is that we will stand with them and fight in the name of Tyre and others to try and change the legal and legislative structure that deals with policing in this country.'

He also noted that he and Nichols' family are 'united in passing the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act,' saying he has been 'talking with my colleagues and civil rights leadership  as well as members of the Senate to really try and push police reform in light of this.

'To go to Memphis and think about Martin Luther King died here on a cold balcony in April 1968, and we're here now where five black cops beat an unarmed man to death and there's no federal legislation that addresses this shows the shame that we have of what has happened to Tyre Nichols,' Sharpton told Morning Joe hosts.

'To think that Dr. King died to put blacks on the police force and they're acting in as brutal a force as any racist police is why we're here today, and I'm going to address that directly in the eulogy,' he said.

Sharpton added that he thinks 'it's a bit fitting the first black woman vice president will be there because this building where Dr. King died will show how far we came from.

'As Joe [Biden] was in Europe last week to show the human carnage, how low we can be, now we have to rise up together to fight this. We can't just accept it.' 

Memphis police will release the full video and audio showing the brutal beating of Tyre Nichols in the coming weeks following public backlash.

Jennifer Sink, the City of Memphis chief legal officer, announced Tuesday that the full body camera footage and audio showing the moment police rained at least nine blows down on the unarmed FedEx worker while screaming profanities.

The police department released redacted clips of the January 7 assault last week, but Sink said the city has received 'multiple requests' to release the entirety of the audio and video footage in the case.

She said the city is now willing to release all of the footage, but it will take several weeks before it is released as the city continues to investigate the incident.

Friends of Tyre Nichols have released a moving video of him skateboarding as they urged the public to remember him as 'living his best life.'

The two-minute clip, which shows Nichols performing skateboarding tricks on a bright and sunny day, has gone viral on social media as users paid tribute to the 'beautiful' boy.

Posting on Twitter, Mai Perkins wrote: 'Before the Memphis Police Dept. releases the video of 5 MPD officers murdering Tyre Nichols during a routine traffic stop, and that heinous video inevitably goes viral, I want to amplify THIS video of Tyre LIVING his best life.'

She added: 'By posting this video of Tyre Nichols practicing his craft I wanted to extend to him in death the #DIGNITY4BlackBodies that he deserved in life.

'I knew once the body cam was released, chances of wiping those images from our psyche would be impossible.'

Two Memphis brothers say that Emmit Martin III, one of the cops accused of beating Mr Nichols to death in the city, pulled a gun on them after he found the pair smoking pot while armed, the officer told one of them: 'I'll blow your face off.'

Brothers Demarius Hervey, 27, and Glenn Harris, 24, made their claims in a new interview with NBC News. 

Hervey and Harris say that they were smoking pot and were in possession of a legal firearm when they found themselves surrounded by Memphis cops at a gas station in August 2020. 

Panicked, Hervey and Harris said that they jumped into Harris' car and took off. The chase lasted for around two miles until Harris crashed. When he got out and attempted to flee again, that's when he found himself tackled to the ground by Martin, 30. 

The pair's mother, Stacy Harris, confirmed the brother's version of events, adding that all of her sons have had run-ins with the law. 

Their attorney, Arthur Horne, told NBC that a few days after the run-in, he told Harris that he could make a complaint to internal affairs but it's unlikely any action would be taken. 

In the wake of the release of the Nichols' video, Horne said that they family were unsure if they were going to follow-up with a formal complaint.

In 2020, Harris was accused of driving under the influence, reckless driving, driving with a suspended license, leaving the scene of an accident and evading arrest.

Hervey did not face charges but NBC News reports that officers did find a baggie of marijuana on his person. 

The network, quoting from the complaint, said that Harris 'had over $2960 dollars on his person' as well as a gun with 15 rounds.

Speaking about Martin, Harris said: 'He was in the wrong, he wasn’t supposed to pull a gun on me.' 

A WMC report from the time said that the incident occurred around 1:00 am on a Sunday morning. 

Nichols was a 29-year-old skateboarder and amateur photographer who worked making boxes at FedEx.

He made friends during morning visits to Starbucks, and always greeted his mother and stepfather when he returned home with a sunny, 'Hello, parents!'

Nichols was the baby of their family, born 12 years after his closest siblings. He had a 4-year-old son and worked hard to better himself as a father, his family said.

Nichols grew up in Sacramento, California, and loved the San Francisco 49ers. He came to Memphis just before the coronavirus pandemic and got stuck. But he was fine with it because he was with his mother, RowVaughn Wells, and they were incredibly close, she said. He even had her name tattooed on his arm.

Friends at a memorial service last week described him as joyful and kind, quick with a smile, often silly.

'This man walked into a room, and everyone loved him,' said Angelina Paxton, a friend who traveled to Memphis from California for the memorial service.

The Memphis Police Department has fired five of the officers, who also are Black, over the horrific arrest.

Justin Smith, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III, Demetrius Haley and Tadarrius Bean were charged last week.

Prosecutors charged them last week with second-degree murder, assault, kidnapping, official misconduct and oppression. They will appear for a bond hearing on February 17.

Two other officers implicated in the events leading to Nichols' death have been relieved of duty - effectively suspended - and are under investigation.

Lawyers have questioned why Preston Hemphill, the only white officer involved, was not criminally charged.

In the arrest video, Hemphill is seen 'violently pulling Nichols from his car while hitting him on the ground with a taser, later saying, "I hope they stomp his a**" after Nichols ran away', the family's lawyers said. He was not present at the second beating scene.

Two paramedics and their on-scene supervisor were dismissed on Monday from the city fire department, while two Shelby County sheriff's deputies have been suspended.

Police video of the confrontation released by the city on Friday showed officers dousing Nichols with pepper spray and pummeling him with punches, kicks and baton blows as he cried out for his mother. One officer was seen firing a Taser stun gun at Nichols when he attempted to flee.

The footage ends showing Nichols was left handcuffed, bloodied and slumped against the side of a police vehicle for nearly a quarter-hour before receiving medical attention.

The chief of police, Cerelyn Davis, has called the conduct seen in the video "inhumane" and said investigators have not substantiated that Nichols was driving recklessly when he was pulled over, as arresting officers asserted at the time.

Civil rights advocates and lawyers for Nichols' family have condemned the beating as the latest case of an African American brutalized by a racially biased law enforcement system that disproportionately targets people of color, even when officers involved are non-white.

Civil rights activist Al Sharpton invoked Martin Luther King's iconic Mountaintop speech on the eve of the funeral.

The reverend stood beside the late 29-year-old's parents at the historic Mason Temple Church of God in Christ in Memphis last night, where Dr King delivered his final speech the night before he was assassinated.

Sharpton said last night: 'They're standing on that ground because we will continue in Tyre's name to head up to Martin's mountaintop. 

'That's why we wanted to start this right on this sacred ground. This is holy ground. And this family now is ours and they're in the hands of history, and they're in the hands of those that would fight.'

Family members also shared remembrances and expressed their grief following the shocking death last month of the FedEx worker who was brutally beaten to death by Memphis cops. 

Nichols' older brother, Jamal Dupree, lamented he was not there to save his brother from the attack he suffered at the fists and feet of the five officers, who have been charged with second-degree murder and other offenses.

'I've been fighting my whole life and the one fight I needed to be here for, I wasn't here,' said Dupree, adding that violence was against his brother's nature.

'My brother was the most peaceful person I've ever met in life,' he said. 'If my brother was here today and he had to say something, he'd tell us to do this peacefully.'

In just five days since the fundraiser was set up, more than $1.3million has been donated to the family of Tyre Nichols.

The money will be spent on a skatepark in his honor, and to help the family as they continue their fight for justice.

Celebrities including Love Song singer Sara Bareilles, skateboarding legend Tony Hawk and comedian Lil Rel Howery each donated $1,000.

Mr Nichols' funeral will be today at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church at 10.30am local time, with 2,500 expected to attend including Vice President Kamala Harris, who was invited by the family.

VP Harris spoke by phone with the Wells family on Tuesday, expressing her condolences and offering her support. President Joe Biden spoke by phone to Nichols' family last week.

Harris will be joined by former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, a senior adviser to the president for public engagement, and Mitch Landrieu, a White House senior advisor and infrastructure implementation coordinator, who is a former mayor of New Orleans.

Others expected to be in attendance include Tamika Palmer, the mother of Breonna Taylor, and Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd.

The deaths of Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, and Floyd in Minneapolis, at the hands of police sparked protests across the nation about racial injustice.

The service will be presided over by pastor J. Lawrence Turner, and civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton will deliver the eulogy.

Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old skateboarder and amateur photographer who worked making boxes at FedEx, moved from Sacramento, California, to Memphis, Tennessee, just before the Covid pandemic.

On January 7, police carried out a routine traffic stop on Mr Nichols - the reason for the stop is not yet clear.

After pulling him out of the car, the team of Memphis cops proceeded to punch, kick, tase and pepper spray him as he lay defenseless on the ground.

Mr Nichols was left bloodied and bruised and barely conscious and was hospitalized with his injuries.

He died three days later.

His death, the latest in a series of Black civilians killed by police, has sparked protests across the country and calls for reform.

CCTV and bodycam footage released last week only heightened the anger, showing the brutality of the cops.

Welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage of the funeral of Tyre Nichols. The service is scheduled to begin at 10.30am at the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church. An estimated 2,500 will be in attendance at what is likely to be an emotionally charged and political event, nearly a month on from Mr Nichols' killing.