BlackCaucus president
Black Caucus Meets With White House On Police Reform In Wake Of Tyre Nichols Murder
The Black lawmakers have reached an agreement on a “legislative package” and said there will be more information released to the public in the coming days.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris sat down with the members of the Congressional Black Caucus on Thursday to discuss plans on how to address police reform after the recent murder of Tyre Nichols at the hands of Memphis police.
The Black Caucus was joined by Sens. Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Cory Booker of New Jersey, as well as Reps. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, and Joe Neguse of Colorado.
The Black lawmakers have reached an agreement on a “legislative package” and said there will be more information released to the public in the coming days ahead.
“We have agreement on how we will continue to work forward both from a legislative standpoint as well as executive and community-based solutions, but the focus will always be on public safety,” said Rep. Steven Horsford of Nevada, the chairman of the Black Caucus.
“This is going to require all of us, including Republicans, to get across the finish line,” said Horsford.
The meeting and agreement on how to address meaningful police reform came just a day after the funeral for Tyre Nichols, the 29-year-old who died following a violent arrest by Memphis Police.
During the funeral, RowVaughan Wells, the mother of Tyre Nichols, called on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act in the name of her son. Civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton also demanded that congress take action on police reform in the wake of Nichols’ death.
It’s worth noting that Biden’s 2021 executive order on policing only includes federal law enforcement agencies and does not pertain to agencies on a local level. City and state law enforcement legislation must go through congress.
Tyre Nichols, 29, died Jan. 10 after he was hospitalized following a violent arrest by Memphis Police.
According to the police Nichols was pulled over Jan. 7 for reckless driving.
Video of Nichols’ horrific arrest was released to the public a day after the five officers responsible for the beating death of the 29-year-old were charged with second-degree murder. The Memphis Fire Department employees involved in the violent arrest of Tyre Nichols were also fired for their roles in an alleged murder.
Nichols was brutally beaten by Memphis police just 19 miles from the Lorraine Motel, the place where Martin Luther King was assassinated.
