The family of Tyre Nichols, a Black man who died after being beaten by Memphis police officers during a traffic stop, attended President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Congressional Black Caucus Chair Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) invited RowVaughn and Rodney Wells, Nichols’ mother and stepfather, to the address, which takes place just days after Nichols’ funeral in Memphis, Tennessee. Vice President Kamala Harris attended the funeral, and some elected officials have used Nichols’ death to push for police reform in Congress after the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act failed to pass last year.
The Wells family has been thrust into the national spotlight after police officers beat Nichols, 29, on Jan. 7. Body-camera footage of the incident shows officers punching, pepper-spraying and shouting obscenities at Nichols, who died three days later.
Nichols can be heard saying “I didn’t do anything” and “I’m just trying to go home” in the video.
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