Tyre Nichols’s Parents Accept Invitation to Attend State of the Union Address

The image from video released on Jan. 27, 2023, Tyre Nichols seated leaning against a car during a brutal attack by five Memphis police officers in Tennessee on Jan. 7, 2023. City of Memphis via AP

The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) has invited the parents of Tyre Nichols, a man who died after being beaten by police, to President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Feb. 7.

Five African American police officers in Memphis, Tennessee, are accused of beating Nichols for an extended time. Video released by the Memphis Police Department doesn’t appear to show him fighting back, although at one point he tried to flee.

“I just want to go home,” Nichols told officers in the video.

Nichols later died of his injuries in a local hospital. He was 29 years old.

The image from video released on Jan. 27 by the City of Memphis shows Tyre Nichols during a brutal attack by police officers on Jan. 7 in Memphis, Tenn. Nichols died on Jan. 10. The five officers have since been fired and charged with second-degree murder and other offenses. City of Memphis via AP

“He had never been in trouble with the law, not even a parking ticket. He was an honest man, a wonderful son, and kind to everyone. He was quirky and true to himself, and his loss will be felt nationally,” his mother, RowVaughn Wells, wrote on a memorial GoFundMe page.

So far, the GoFundMe campaign has raised more than $1 million to pay for a memorial skate park, mental health services for Nichols’s parents, and time off from work for them.

In the wake of Nichols’s death, protests against police brutality took place in New York, Atlanta, Boston, Baltimore, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and other cities.

Some of the protests turned violent, as previously reported. Others were affiliated with Antifa, a radical left-wing group.

Wells noted in her GoFundMe memorial that the Memphis police fired all the officers accused of being involved. They also face charges including second-degree murder and kidnapping.

Vincent Evans, executive director of the CBC, told Twitter that the caucus’s chairman, Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) had offered Nichols’s parents seats at the State of the Union address and that they had accepted.

“The Congressional Black Caucus is disturbed by the gut-wrenching allegations underlying Tyre Nichols’ brutal death at the hands of law enforcement and we must work to ensure that our legal system holds accountable police officers who, with impunity, kill too many in our communities,” Horsford said in a statement.

He noted that the CBC will continue to work for police reform in the United States.

President Joe Biden welcomes bipartisan mayors attending the Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting to the White House on Jan. 20, 2023. Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS

Biden and former President Donald Trump condemned the attack.

“Tyre’s death is a painful reminder that we must do more to ensure that our criminal justice system lives up to the promise of fair and impartial justice, equal treatment, and dignity for all,” Biden said in a statement.

“We also cannot ignore the fact that fatal encounters with law enforcement have disparately impacted black and brown people.”

After Nichols’s death, the Memphis Police Department disbanded its Street Crimes Operations to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods (SCORPION) unit.

The officers who allegedly beat Nichols worked in this unit.