Chants of “Tyre was a man” and “No justice, no peace” could be heard on the grounds of the National Civil Rights Museum Monday, Jan. 16, as activists and family members and friends of Tyre Nichols gathered and called for action from the agency involved in his death. 

Organizers are asking the Memphis Police Department to provide body camera footage, names of the officers involved in Nichols’ killing and files on the officers. 

Nichols, 29, died Jan. 10, days after being injured during an incident with Memphis police officers Saturday, Jan. 7, near Raines and Ross roads in Memphis.

MPD officers under investigation following man’s traffic stop death

Friends and family gathered with activists during the museum’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration. Hundreds of people attended the celebration and heard the protest while they waited in line to get inside the museum. 

“All we are here today is trying to seek justice for our son,” said Rodney Wells, Nichols’ stepfather. “He was brutalized by the police department. And we just want to make sure the justice is done. We want these police officers to be tried for murder. Nothing else.”

Keyana Dixon, Nichols’ oldest sister, had tears in her eyes as she spoke of her youngest brother, who was a father, skateboarder and photographer from California. Nichols had been living in Memphis for two or three years with his mother and stepfather and worked with Wells at FedEx.

“Tyre was our baby brother,” Dixon said. “The anguish that this has caused my family, our lives will never be the same. I just want justice for my baby brother. My mom is in a perilous state. She hasn’t moved in days. Our family will never be the same. That was a cruel act over a traffic stop. It’s just a nightmare.”

Jamal Dupree, one of Nichols’ brothers, said the officers should be held accountable the same way a civilian would.

“What I don’t understand is this,” Dupree said. “If I go outside, and I go kill somebody, police coming for me. They’re gonna put me in jail. I’m going to be sitting in jail until I’m proven innocent or guilty. As of right now, we got some police officers that killed my innocent little brother.”

Man dies after confrontation with Memphis police officers

He said his brother never had a criminal history and only had two speeding tickets his entire life. And he said his brother touched everybody around him.

“I’ve been in the streets,” Dupree said. “Not my brother. At the end of the day, my brother did not deserve this at all.”

Earlier Monday, Ben Crump, notable civil rights attorney who has represented the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, announced he has been retained as counsel for Nichols’ family.

Crump was not present at the rally Monday, but he issued a statement earlier that morning. 

“All of the available information tells us that this was the tragic and preventable death of a young man deeply beloved by his family and community,” he wrote. “This kind of in-custody death destroys community trust if agencies are not swiftly transparent.

“The most effective way for the Memphis Police Department to be transparent with the grieving Nichols family and the Memphis community is to release the body camera and surveillance footage from the traffic stop. Nobody should ever die from a simple traffic stop – the footage is the only way to discern the true narrative of why and how that happened to Tyre.”

Earlier in the day, protesters also gathered at City Hall. 

On Saturday, the day before the rally, family and protesters gathered for a balloon release at the site of Nichols’ “confrontation” with police at Raines and Ross roads in southeast Memphis. After the balloon release, protesters marched to the Ridgeway Police Station.

The next day, on Sunday, the City of Memphis and the Memphis Police Department issued a statement, saying the department is beginning the process of administrative actions against the officers involved in Nichols’ death. 

“After reviewing various sources of information involving this incident, I have found that it is necessary to take immediate and appropriate action,” Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis said. “Today, the department is serving notice to the officers involved of the impending administrative actions.”

According to the release from the city, civil servant employees must go through a required procedural process before they can be disciplined or terminated. The process is expected to be completed later this week.

“Make no doubt, we take departmental violations very seriously and, while we must complete the investigation process, it is our top priority to ensure that swift justice is served,” Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said. “We want citizens to know that we are prepared to take immediate and appropriate actions based on what the findings determine.”