FOG BLOG U.S. NEWS LOG: REVEREND AL SHARPTON DELIVERS EULOGY AT TYRE NICHOLS FUNERAL!

At Tyre Nichols Funeral, Al Sharpton Delivers a Eulogy

Civil-rights leader has called for police overhauls; Vice President Kamala Harris also attends funeral MEMPHIS, Tenn.—Hundreds gathered Wednesday for the funeral of Tyre Nichols, weeks after an encounter with police led to his death and sparked an outcry across the country.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, the civil-rights leader, delivered a eulogy for Mr. Nichols, a 29-year-old FedEx worker who was pulled over by police on Jan. 7. Body-camera footage released by the city showed Mr. Nichols was repeatedly struck by officers. He died in a Memphis hospital three days later.

The family said Mr. Nichols, a father who loved to skateboard, was fatally beaten beyond recognition. “The tape speaks for itself,” Mr. Sharpton said Wednesday afternoon. “They started beating an unarmed man.” Mr. Sharpton said the incident was especially tragic given Memphis is where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. “In the city where the dreamer laid down and shed his blood, you have the unmitigated gall to beat your brother,” Mr. Sharpton said of the police officers involved.

Vice President Kamala Harris also attended the funeral.

On the eve of the funeral, Mr. Sharpton, alongside members of Mr. Nichols’s family, called for police overhauls. “We are here to establish and proclaim that we are going to continue to fight this fight around police brutality and killing until we get federal laws changed,” Mr. Sharpton said Tuesday. “What happened to Tyre is a disgrace to the country.”

Police officials fired five officers last month. The men, all of whom are Black, were charged with second-degree murder, among other offenses, for Mr. Nichols’s death. Mr. Nichols was also Black.

Earlier this week, three Memphis emergency medical technicians were fired and two additional police officers were relieved from duty as officials continued their investigations.

The Shelby County District Attorney’s office said Monday that more charges may be forthcoming in the case. There is also a separate federal civil-rights investigation.