CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A coalition of Cleveland-based racial justice and human rights organizations spearheaded by Black Lives Matter Cleveland held a vigil Sunday near the Free Stamp sculpture in Willard Park, mourning the tragic murder of Tyre Nichols by Memphis police.
Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, was severely beaten after a traffic stop in Memphis on Jan. 7 and died three days later in a Memphis hospital. Five Memphis police officers involved in the arrest were fired after an internal investigation found they used excessive force, failed to intervene and failed to render aid.
They have since been charged with murder and other crimes in Nichols’ death. They face up to 60 years in prison if convicted of second-degree murder. All five of the officers are Black.
Close to 200 supporters of justice and equality braved the freezing temperatures to stand in solidarity and make their voices heard for yet another Black American killed by police brutality.
Alicia Kirkman, whose son, Angelo Miller, was killed in 2007 by an off-duty Cleveland police officer, spoke out at the rally about abolishing the qualified immunity police often use to defend themselves in use-of-force cases. That would allow citizens to more easily sue for damages in these cases, she said.
Groups involved in the Cleveland protest included Black Lives Matter Cleveland, InterReligious Task Force on Central America, Black Spring CLE, the Cuyahoga County Jail Coalition, the Angelo Miller Foundation, Citizens for a Safer Cleveland, Huey P. Newton Gun Club Alpha and the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless.
Black Lives Matter Cleveland issued the following public statement on the Nichols case:
“As we mourn the loss of Tyre Nichols, we urge Memphis leaders to shift their priorities to systems of care and community for the Black community, for all the many poor people of the area, and to heal the wounds of racial injustice and poverty with strong systems of education, healthcare, housing, transportation, and jobs, rather than funding systems of policing and incarceration that do nothing to solve problems while destroying lives and communities.
“We urge not just Memphis but all of the United States to wake up to the reality that it is care-centered community service that will help build the future we want.”
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