The mother of Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old man who died after five black police officers brutally beat him during a traffic stop in Memphis, said she will pray for the families of the officers.
RowVaughn Wells told MSNBC in an interview that the five officers involved in the horrific crime “shamed their own families.”
She said: “I hate the fact that it was five black men that actually did this to another black man.
“My son probably was their age.
“They just brought disgrace to themselves,” she said.
“I’m not an evil person, my son is not an evil person.
“I pray for the officers’ families because their families didn’t deserve any of this either.
“I believe in my heart that my son was on assignment from God.
“He finished his assignment and God took him back home.
“I just want the world to know that he was just a beautiful person and that his legacy will be change.”
“And that is what keeps me going to get this justice for my son because I’m not going to stop until every person that had anything to do with my son’s death is prosecuted to the fullest of the law.”
According to The New York Post:
“At least two out of of five Memphis police officers charged with murder in the fatal beatdown of Tyre Nichols joined the force after the department relaxed its hiring requirements.
“Tadarrius Bean and Demetrius Haley both joined the Memphis Police Department in Aug. 2020, NBC News reported, more than two years after the department dramatically loosened the education qualifications to become an officer.
“Recruits no longer needed an associate’s degree or 54 college credit hours to join the force, and could get by with five years of work experience, Action 5 reported.”
Tyre Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, tells #TheView it “hurt [her] heart” to hear him call out her name in police body camera video.
“I am going to fight until I have no more breath to make sure that we receive justice for my son.” https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/K1DpTtJsff
— The View (@TheView) January 30, 2023
Tyre Nichols’ mother, RowVaughn Wells, tells #TheView she wants her son to be remembered as “a beacon of light.”
“I just want the world to know that he was just a beautiful person and that his legacy will be change.” pic.twitter.com/TPohTgBACf
— The View (@TheView) January 30, 2023
According to USA Today:
Nichols’ death exploded into national headlines even before Friday night, when Memphis police released the graphic video footage from Jan. 7.
It shows officers trying to arrest Nichols at a red light and again after a pursuit to a nearby neighborhood.
Officers attack Nichols with pepper spray, a Taser, a baton, and punches and kicks.
Nichols cries out for his mother as officers strike him.
They then prop him up as he repeatedly slumps to the ground.
Nichols was hospitalized in critical condition and died three days later.
Preliminary findings of an independent autopsy showed Nichols “suffered extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating,” Nichols’ family’s attorneys, Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, said in a joint statement.
All five officers were fired last week and have been charged with second-degree murder and other crimes in connection to Nichols’ death.
Black police officers have been accused of brutalizing and killing Black people before.
Three of the six Baltimore police officers charged in the 2015 arrest and death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray were black.
Gray’s death touched off days of rioting and looting and led to investigations by the U.S. Justice Department.
All six officers in that case were acquitted or had their charges dropped.
