PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — As calls for justice following the death of Tyre Nichols continue to grow louder across the country, a West Mount Airy community on Tuesday gathered to demand police reform.
Passing drivers honked their horns in support of dozens of neighbors who held up signs outside of the Unitarian Society of Germantown on Lincoln Drive.
The signs read simply: “Black Lives Matter.”
“We’re here today because of yet another tragic death as a result of police violence,” said vigil organizer Mary Kalyana. “It’s got to stop.”
Video released to the public on Friday shows police officers in Memphis, Tennessee, violently beating 29-year-old Nichols, a Black man, during a traffic stop on Jan. 7. He died three days later.
Five fired officers, all Black, were charged with second-degree murder in Nichols' death. After the video was released, a pair of deputies who appeared at the scene were relieved of duty, pending an internal probe. And on Monday, two more Memphis police officers were suspended, and two EMTs and Memphis Fire Department lieutenant were fired.
Since Nichols' death, protesters in Philadelphia and in cities across the U.S. have held numerous demonstrations.
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Rev. Cheryl M. Walker, the pastor at the Unitarian Society of Germantown, said their message was a clear call to action, not just words on poster boards.
“Black Lives Matter,” said Walker. “That needs to be the truth. Not the hope, but the truth.”
Mark Fleigelman of Germantown says, as a community, they are demanding reform to what they call a broken police and justice system.
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“I’d like to put a light on the fact that this isn’t just one bad apple in the crate. This is a system that’s doing this,” said Fleigelman.
Danise Saunders from Germantown attended the vigil to lend her voice. She said, at the very least, police must review their practices. She said Nichols made the greatest sacrifice.
“He’s done something for us all,” Saunders said, tearful. “He’s given his life for us to open our eyes and see the injustice.”