Mr. Nichols passed just three days after being stopped by the police during a traffic check.
The family attorney for Tyre Nichols has urged the US Congress to swiftly approve police reform legislation in the aftermath of his passing.
Five police officers beat Mr. Nichols, 29, to death in January.
Ben Crump encouraged President Joe Biden to utilize the passing of Mr. Nichols to promote the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in a statement to the US media.
Additionally, he claimed that Mrs. Nichols was dealing with the loss of her son by thinking that his passing would bring about a change.
Tyre was brought here on a mission, and she genuinely feels that something good will come out of this tragedy, according to Mr. Crump.
A white police officer who had knelt on Mr. Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes was responsible for his death, leading to the introduction of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in 2021. International demonstrations followed his passing.
The measure would make it simpler to file charges against violating officers and would result in a nationwide prohibition on the use of chokeholds by law enforcement.
In March 2021, the measure was passed by the House of Representatives, which was then under Democratic Party control. However, the Senate’s resistance ultimately prevented it from becoming law.
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act must be approved, Mr. Crump said, adding that it would be shameful if we didn’t exploit the terrible loss of the officer to achieve so. According to the attorney, killings caused by police officers would continue if the legislation was not changed.
The NAACP’s Derrick Johnson, who serves as its president, also urged lawmakers to act.
In a statement, Mr. Johnson said that by not passing any legislation, “you’re writing another obituary.” “We can identify every victim of police violence, but we can’t name a single piece of legislation you’ve enacted to address it,” they say.
Jim Jordan, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee for the Republican Party, however, cautioned lawmakers against rushing legislation.
“These five people had no regard for life…” “I’m not sure what you can do to stop the type of wickedness we witnessed in that video.” He revealed this on NBC’s Meet the Press show.
A longtime friend of Mr. Nichols’s told the BBC that legal change would protect his legacy. He had, according to Angelina Paxton, “always desired to transform the world.”
Mr. Nichols was “extremely passionate about Black Lives Matter,” according to Ms. Paxton.
She claimed that he’s always wanted to change things. “If it brings anyone any comfort out of all the grief that we’re all going through right now, just know that I can assure you that he’s up there right now smiling because he finally achieved what he always wanted to do,” the speaker said.
The so-called Scorpion special squad, a component to which the cops now accused of murder belonged, was dissolved by the Memphis Police Department on Saturday.
In particular, vehicle thefts and gang-related offenses were the focus of the 50-person squad, which was entrusted with reducing crime rates.
“Street Crimes Operations to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods,” or “Scorpio,” was the name of the organization.
Last Monday, the Memphis Police Department dismissed five officers: Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills Jr., Emmitt Martin III, and Justin Smith.
According to jail records, four out of the five had secured bond and had been freed by Friday morning.
Attorneys for Mr. Martin and Mr. Mills have stated that their clients would enter a not-guilty plea.
The Scorpion team was established, according to Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis in an interview with BBC News on Friday, to be “more responsive” and “more proactive” to gun violence in the city. She did, however, admit that the police who severely abused Tyre Nichols “decided to go off the rails.”
She explained, “We are evaluating each unit individually. “This is a required action. To the community, we want to be completely open.
Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. of Shelby County stated that two deputy sheriffs who “came on the scene following” the altercation had also been placed on administrative leave awaiting an internal inquiry.
The Tyre Nichols case prompts politicians to once again discuss federal police legislation. Sen. Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois and the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, stated, “We need a national discourse on this.” I am aware that the badge-wearing individuals put their lives in danger every day to protect us, Durbin continued. However, these films also show police officers acting inhumanely badly in intolerable situations. This needs to be improved; we must do so.
NBC’s Meet the Press featured a skeptical Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, who left the door open for congressional action.
Jordan stated on Sunday, “We’ll look at what we think can improve this. Even though no amount of instruction will alter what we saw in the movie, it is important to ensure that they get the appropriate training.
When questioned about the problem of “wandering cops,” which refers to police officers who have been disciplined for misconduct in one department but have afterward been hired by another, Jordan acknowledged that federal action might be required.
“Maybe there’s some kind of federal law we can look at that mandates that to happen,” suggested Jordan, expressing his desire for some form of local government engagement. However, local governments handle it.
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act discussions broke down in the evenly divided Senate in 2021, prompting civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, who represents the family of Nichols, to urge President Joe Biden and Congress to revisit the issue of passing it.
Crump said on CNN’s State of the Union, “Shame on us if we don’t use (Nichols’) awful death to finally get the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act enacted.
Chokeholds were prohibited, and federal no-knock warrants were among the reforms included in the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. In 2020, the bill passed the Democratic-controlled House but was never considered by the Republican-controlled Senate.
House Democrats enacted the legislation once more in 2021 when Democrats regained control of the House and won the Senate. Bipartisan negotiations were led by a trio of the most prominent Black members of Congress, now-former Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), Sens. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Tim Scott (R-S.C.), but the legislation was ultimately never taken up in the Senate due to differences between Democrats and Republicans over ending qualified immunity for police officers.
